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The Naval History 



OF THE 



United States 



BY 



WILLIS J. ABBOT 



With 150 Illustrations 




DODD, MEAD AND CQJyIPANY 



PUBLISHERS 



T*vo Copies Received 

m 18 'O03 

Copyiignt tdtiy 

CLASS XXc. No. 

COPY B. 



CoPYRiGiir I.SS6, 18S7, iSSS, 1S96 

BY 

])()DI), MKAl) AXI) COMPANY 



A// rights rt'servcii 



ecr^ 



CONTENTS. 

THE NAVAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

PART I. 
BLUE JACKETS OF '76. 



CHAPTER I. 

Early Exploits upon the Water. — Gallop's Batple with the Indians. — Buccaneers 
AND Pirates. — Morgan and Blackheard. — Capt. Kidd turns Pirate. — Hownfall 
OF THE Buccaneers' Power 

CHAPTER n. 

Expeditions against Neighboring Colonies. — Romantic Career of Sir William 
Phipps. — Quelling a Mutiny. — Expeditions against Quebec 

CHAPTER HI. 

Opening of the American Revolution. — Tut Affair of the Schooner " St. John.'' 

— The Press-Gang and its Work. — '1 he Sloop "Liberty." — Destruction of 
the "Gaspee." — The Boston Tea-Par rv 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Beginning of the Navy. — Lexington and Concord. — A Blow struck in 
Maine. — Capture of the " Margareita." — Gen. Washington and the Navy. 

— Work of Capt. Manly 

CHAFFER V. 

INVENTS of 1776. — The First Cruise of the Regular Navy. — The "Lexington" 
and the "Edward." — Mugford's Brave Fight. — Loss of the" Yankee Hero." 

— Capt. Manly, and the " Defence." — American Vessels in European Waters. 

— Good Work of the "Lexington" and the "Reprisal." — The P.ritish 
defeated at Charleston 



i'/ 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Career of Paul Jones. — In Command of the " Providence." — Capture of the 
"Mellish." — Exploits with the "Alfred." — In Command of the "Ranger." 
— Sweeping the English Channel. — The Descent upon Whitehaven 

CHAPTER VH. 

Career of Paul Jones continued. — His Descent upon the Castle of Lxjrd 
Selkirk. — The Affair of the Pl.\te. — The Descent upon Whitehaven. — The 
Battle with the "Drake." — Lieut. Simpson's Perfidy 

CHAPTER VHI. 

Career of Paul Jones continued. — His Search for a Ship. — Given Command of 
the " Bon Homme Richard." — Landais and his Character. — The Frustrated 
Mutiny. — Landais quarrels with Jones. — Edinisurgh and Leith thkeateked. 

— The Dominie's Prayer 

CHAPTER IX. 

Career of Paul Jones concluded. — The Battle between the "Bon Homme 
Richard" and the "Serapis." — Treachery of Landais. — Jones's Great Victory. 

— Landais steals the " Alliance." — Jones in Command of the "Ariel." — The 
"Ariel" in the ^Storm. — Arrival in America ........ 

CHAPTER X. 

Career of Nicholas Biddle. — His E.xploit at Lewiston Jail. — Cruise in the 
"Randolph." — Battle with the "Yarmouth." — The Fatal Explosion. — Samuel 
Tucker. — His Boyhood. — Encounter with Corsairs. — Cruising in the 
"Franklin." — In Command of the "Boston." — Anecdotes of Caff. Tucker . 

CHAPTER XI. 

Hostilities in 1777. — American Reverses. — The British in Philadelphia. — The 
Attack upon Fort Mifflin. — Cruise of the "Raleigh" and the "Alfred." — 
Torpedo Warfare. — The Battle of the Kegs 

CHAPTER XII. 

Naval Events of 1778. — Recruiting for the Navy. — The Descent upon New 
Providence. — Operations on the Delaware. — Capt. Barry's Exploits. — 
Destruction of the American Frigates. — American Reverses. — The Capture 
of the " PiGOT." — French Naval Exploits 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Last Years of the War. — Disastrous Expedition to the Penobscot. — Wholesale 
Captures on the Newfoundland Banks. — French Ships in American Waters. 

— Taking of Charleston. — The "Trumbull's" Victory and Defeat. — Capt. 
Barry and the "Alliance." — Close of the War 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Work of the Privateers. — The "Gen. Hancock" and the "Levant." — Exploits 
of the "Pickering" — The "Revenge." — The "Holkar." — The "Congress" 
and the "Savage." — The " Hyder Ali" and the "Gen. Monk." — The Whale- 
Boat Hostilities. — The "Old Jersey" Prison-Ship 

CHAPTER XV. 

The Navy Disbanded. — Aggressions of Barbary Corsairs. — A Disgraceful Tribute. 

— Bainbridce and the Dey. — Gen. Eaton at Tunis. — A Squadron sent to 
the Mediterranean. — Decatur and the Spaniards. — The "Enterprise" and 
the "Tripoli." — American Slaves in Algiers 

CHAPTER XVI. 

More Vigorous Policy. — Commodore Morris sent to the Mediterranean. — 
Porter's Cutting-Out Expedition. — Commodore Preble sent to the Mediter- 
ranean. — His Encounter with a British Manof-War. — The Loss of the 
"Philadelphia." — Decatur's Daring Adventure 



CHAPTER XVII. 

\ Stirring Year. — The Bombardment op Tripoli. — Decatur's Hand-to-Hand 
Fight. — Lieut. Trippe's Bravery. — Lieut. Spence's Bold Deed. — Somers's 
Narrow Escape. — The Floating Mine. — The Fatal Explosion. — Close of 
THE War. — The End 



PART 11. 

BLUE lACKHTS OF 1812. 



CHAPTER I. 

Tub Gathering of the War-Cloud. — The Re'olution ended, but the War for 
Independence yet unfqught. — Outrages upon American Sailors. — The Riciir 
OF Search. — Impressment. — Boyhoou ok Commodore Porter. — Early Days of 
Commodores Perry and Barney. — Burning a Privateer. — The Embargo. — War 
Inevitable 

CH.'\PTER II. 

War with France. — The Building of a Navy. — First Success for the Americans. 

— CurriNG out the "Sandwich." — The "Constellation " and "L'Insuruenie." 

— The " Constellation " and "La Vengeance" 

CH.MTER III. 

Proposed Reduction of the Navy. — Renewal of British Outrages. — The Affaik 
OF THE "Baltimore." — Attack on the "Leander." — Encounter between the 
"Chesapeake" and "Leopard." — The "President" and "Little Belt" 

CHAPTER IV. 

The War on the Ocean. — Commodore Rodgers's Cruise. — The Loss of the "Nau- 
tilus." — First Success for the British. — The Escape of the "Constitution.- 

— The "Esse-x" takes the "Alert." — The "Constitution" and the "Guerriere," 

CHAFFER V. 

An International Debate. — The "Wasp" and the "Frolic." — The "United 
States" and THE "Macedonian." — Ovations to the Victors 

vi 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Bainbridge takes Command of the "Constitution."— The Defeat of the " Java."— 
Close of the Year's Hostilities on the Ocean 

CHAPTER Vn. 

The War on the Lakes. — The Attack on Sackett's Harbor.— Oliver Hazard 
Perry ordered to Lake Erie. — The Battle of Put-in-Bay .... 

CHAPTER VIII. 

On the Ocean. — The "Hornet" sinks the "Peacock." — The Blockade. — Adven- 
tures of the "Sally." — Hostilities on Chesapeake Bay. — The Cruise of the 
" President " 

CHAPTER IX. 

Decatur blockaded at New York. — Attempts to escape through Long Island 
.Sound. — The Flag-Ship struck by Lightning. — Torpedoes. — Fulton's Steam- 
Frigate. — Action BETvifEEN the "Chesapeake" and "Shannon" .... 

CHAPTER X. 

Cruise of the "Essex." — A Rich Prize. — The Mysterious Letter. — Cape Horn 
rounded. — Capture of a Peruvian Privateer. — Among the British Whalers. 

— Porter in Command of a Squadron. — A Boy Commander. — The Squadron 
lays up at Nookaheevah 

CHAPTER XI. 

War with the Savages. — The Campaign against the Typees. — Departure from 
Nookaheevah. — The "Essex" anchors at Valparaiso. — Arrival of the 
"Phcehe" and "Cherub." — They capture the "Essex." — Porter's Encounter 
with the " Saturn." — The Mutiny at Nookaheevah 

CHAPTER XII. 

Caiture of the "Surveyor." — Work of the Gunboat Flotilla. — Operations on 
CiiiiSAi'EAKE Bay. — Cockburn's Depredations. — Cruise of the "Argus." — IIkr 
Capture BY the "Pelican." — Battle between the "Enterprise" and "Boxer." 

— End of the Year 1813 on the Ocean " 

CHAFFER XIII. 

On the Lakes. — Close of Hostilities on Lakes Erie and Huron. — Desultory 
Warfare on Lake Ontario in 1813. — Hostilities on Lake Ontario in 1814. — 
The liArrLE of Lake Champlain. — End of the War upon the Lakes . . 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VII. 
The Blockade-Runners. — Nassau and Wilmington. — Work of the Cruisers . 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Du PoNr-'s Expedition to Hilton Head and Port Royal. — The Fiery Circle . 

CHAPTER IX. 

ThB FiRSI fKON-CI.AD VESSELS IN HISTORY. — THE "MeRRIMAC" SINKS THE "CUMBER- 
LAND," AM) DESTROYS THE " CONGRESS." — Dt'EL BETWEEN THE " MONITOR " AND 
"Merrimvc" 

CHAPTER X. 
The Navy in the InijWd Waters. — The Mississippi Squadron. — Sweeping the 
Tennessee River 

CHAPTER XL 

t'AMous Confederate Privateers, — the "Alabama," the " Shen.\ndoah," the 
"Nashville" 

CHAPTER XII. 
Work ok the Gulf Squadron. — The Fight at the Passes of the Mississippi. — 
Destruction of the Schooner "Judaii." — The Blockade of Galveston, and 
Capture of the "Harriet Lane" 

CHAPTER XIII. 
The Capture of New Orleans. — Farragut's Fleet passes Fort St. Philip and 
Fort Jackson 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Along the Mississippi. — Forts Jackson and St. Philip surrender. — The Battle 
at St. Charles. — The Ram "Arkansas." — Bombardment and Capture of Port 
Hudson 



CONTENTS. xl 



CHAPTER XV. 

OS TO VlCKSBURf.. BOMHARDMKM- Of TIIK Ci )N1.-EI)ERAI|-. S IKONC.HOI.D. POK I Ek'S 

Cruise in the Forests ............ 

CHAPTER XVI. 

VlCKSBURO SURRENDERS, AND THE MlSSISSIITI IS OPENED. — NaVAI, EVENTS AI.ONC THE 

Gulf Coast 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Operations about Charleston. — The roMBARDMENT, the Sieoe, and the Capture, 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
The Battle of Mobile Bay 



CHAPTER XIX. 
The Fall of Fort Fisher. — The Navy ends its Work 



PART If/. 
BLUE JACKETS IN TIME OF PEACE. 



CHAPTER I. 

Police Service on the High Seas. — War Service in Asiatic Ports. — Losses by the 
Perils of the Deep. — A Brush with the Pirates. — Admiral Rodgers at Corea. 
— Services in Arctic Waters. — The Disaster at Samoa. — The Attack on the 
"Baltimore's" Men at Valparaiso. — Loss of the " Kearsarge." — The Naval 
Review 



( HAPTKR 11. 

T IE Navai. Militia. — A Volunteer Service which in Time of War will bf Effbtt- 
ivE. — How Boys are Trained for the Life of a Sailor. — Conditions of 
Enlistment in ihe Volunteer Branch of the Service. — The Work of the 
Seagoing Militia in Summer 

CHAPTER III. 

How ihe Navy has Guown. — The Cost and Character of our New Whiie Ships 
OF War. — Oi'R Period of Naval Weakness and our Advance to a Pi..\ce among 
THE Great Naval Powers. — The New Devices of Naval Warfare. — The Tor- 
pedo, THE Dynamite Gun, and the Modern Rifle. — Armor and its Possibilities, 

PART V. 
THE NAVAI. WAR WITH SPAIN. 



CHAPTER I. 

The State of Cuba. — Pertinacity of the Revolutionists. — Spain's Sacrifices 
and Failure. — Spanish Barbarities. — The Policy of Reconcentkation. — 
American Sympathy Aroused. — The Struggle in Congress. — The Assassina- 
tion OF THE " Maine." — Report of the Commission. — The Onward March 
TO Battle 



CHAPTER II. 

The Opening Days of the War. — The First Blow Struck in the Pacific. — 
Dewey and His Fleet. — The Battle at Manila. — An Eye-witness' Story. 
— Delay and Doubt in the East. — Dull Times for the Blue-jackets. — The 
Discovery of Cervera. — Hobson's Exploit. — The Outlook .... 



CHAPTER III. 

The Spanish Fleet makf.s a Dash from the Harbor. — Its total Destruction.— 
Admiral Cervera a Prisoner.— Great Spanish Losses.— American Fleet i-osEf 
BUT one Man . 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



VOLUME ONE 



Spilling Grog on the "Constitution" before going into Action . Frontispiece 
Commodore Esek Hopkins ... ..... 

Siege of Charleston, S. C, May, 1780 

Captain John Paul Jones quelling the Mob at Whitehaven, Scotland, Nov., 

1777 • • • 

The Action between the " Bon Homme Richard " and the " Serapis," Sep- 
tember 23, 1779 ........... 

Commodore Barry ..... ..... 

Shortening Sail on the " Lancaster"- The Oldest Cruiser in Commission . 

Commodore Decatur ......... 

Derelict . .... ....... 

Cutting Away the Flag . ■ . . ...... 

Commodore Perry •••..,,.... 

Barney Regains his Ship 

Toasting the Wooden Walls of Columbia 

Commodore Macdonough 

Hull Makes a Reconnoissance ...... . . , 

The British Squadron . . ..-•...,,. 

Lieut. Allen Fires a Shot .....,.,, 

Commodore Rogers Hails 

Explosion on the " President " 

"Hull Her, Boys!" 

Loading ••......,.,.. 

Ready to Board \ 

Engagement of the Frigates "United States" and "Macedonian," Christ 
mas Day, 181 2 

A">'iming to be British Men-of-War r"' • 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Marines Picking Off the Enemy ...... 

In the Cross-Trees 

Perry's Recruits 

Drilling the Raw Recruits ....... 

Commodore Perry at the Battle of Lake Erie 

Perry's Victory — The Battle of Lake Erie, September lo, 1813 

Making Ready to Leave the " Lawrence " . . . . 

Awaiting the Boarders 

"I am Commodore Rogers" 

Beating to Quarters 

The Last Shot of the " Chesapeake "..... 

On Board the "Chesapeake" 

The Peruvian Privateer 

The Duel at the Galapagos Islands ..... 
Firing the Howitzer ... ..... 



VOLUME TWO 

Destruction of the "Maine," Havana Harbor, Feb. 15, 1898 . Frontispiece 

The Fight with the "Boxer" ......... 

The Surrender of the "Boxer" ......... 

On the Way to Lake Erie 

Hiram Paulding Fires the Guns ......... 

The Captain of the " Reindeer "......... 

The End of the "Reindeer" ......... 

Lieut. Richmond Pearson Hobson, who Sank the "Merrimac "in Santiago 
Harbor, June 3, 1898 ......... 

The Descent of Wareham . 

Sharp-Shooters ............ 

The March on Washington 

Planning the Attack 

Reponse to the Call for Volunteers to Accompany Hobson on the "Merri- 
mac "...'.......... 

The "President" Tries to Escape .....*.. 

Battleship " Massachusetts" 

Prison Chaplain and Jailer . , , ■. 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



The Last Volley of the War 

New U. S. Torpedo-Boat "Talbot" 

The "Hartford," Farragut's Flagship ......,, 

Departure of a Naval Expedition from Port Royal ..... 

Fort Moultrie 

Anderson's Command Occupying Fort Sumter ...... 

Major Robert Anderson .......... 

The "Morris" — Topedo-Boat of the Smallest Type — 46^ Tons Displace- 
ment, 800 Horse-Power ......... 

Blockading the Mouth of the Mississippi ....... 

Flag of the Confederacy . ......... 

Naval Patrol on the Potomac 

• Attack on the Hatteras Forts ......... 

Spanish Merchant Steamer " Catalina " Captured by the Cruiser " Detroit," 
April 24, 1898 .......... 

Flag of South Carolina 

Nassau: The Haunt of Blockade-Runners ....... 

Cotton Ships at Nassau .......... 

Marines Saluting on the " Lancaster " — Our Oldest Naval Vessel in Active 
Service ............ 

Fortress Monroe ............ 

Du Font's Expedition Off Cape Hatteras ....... 

The Opening Gun ........... 

Engagement of the "Monitor" and " Merrimac," March 9, 1862 

A River Gunboat ........... 

Engagement of the " Kearsarge " and "Alabama," June 19, 1864 

Rescue of Capt. Semmes .......... 

The " Nashville " Burning a Prize ........ 

Fort Pensacola ............ 

Levee at New Orleans Before the War ....... 

Farragut's Fleet Engaging the Enemy near New Orleans, April 26, 1862 

Breaking the Chain 

Farragut Engaging the Port Hudson (La.) Batteries, March, 1S63 

The "Arkansas " under Fire .......... 

Farragut's Fleet Engaging Forts Jackson and St. Philip and Confederate 

Fleet on the Mississippi River, below New Orleans, April 25, 1862 . 

The Launching of the Battleship " Iowa" 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Passing the Vicksburg Batteries 

Bailey's Dam on the Red River ......... 

Engagement Between the U. S. Flagsliip "Hartford " and tlie Confederate 
Ironclad "Tennessee," Mobile Bay, August 5, 1864 .... 

Warships off Charleston Harbor ......... 

Battle of Mobile Bay — Union Fleet Engaging Fort Morgan and Confed- 
erate Vessels, August 5, 1864 ........ 

Forward Turret of Monitor " Terror " 

Torpedo-Boat "Cushing" • 

Dynamite Cruiser " Vesuvius " 

Ensign Worth Bagley, of the Torpedo-Boat "Winslow," Killed May 11, 1898 

Partial View of the Wreck of the " Maine " ...... 

Dewey's Victory — The Naval Fight in Manila Bay, May i, 1898 

The Defeat of Cervera's Fleet — The "Colon " Running Ashore . 

The Naval Board of Strategy, 1898 

Rear-Admiral William Thomas Sampson . 

Bombardment of San Juan, Puerto Rico, May 13, 1898 .... 

Rear-Admiral George Dewey 

Admiral Sampson's Fleet off Puerto Rico, in Search of Cervera's Vessels. 
May I, i8g8 

Admiral Cervera's Fleet Approaching Santiago, May, 1898 .... 

Commodore John Crittenden Watson ........ 

General Miles's Expedition to Puerto Rico, as seen from the Deck of the 
"St. Paul" 

Hobson Sinking the "Merrimac" in the Entrance to Santiago Harbor, June 

3, 1898 . . . . • . . 

Rear-Admiral Winfield Scott Schley ........ 

Monitors at League Island Navy Yard, Philadelphia ..... 

Training Ship "Alliance" — Type of the Last Wooden Sloops-of-War . 

Training Ships " Portsmouth " and " Lancaster " at Brooklyn Navy Yard . 

" Racing Home " — The Battleship " Oregon " on her way from San Fran- 
cisco to Key West . . . . . . . . . ' . 

Hammock-Inspection on a Battleship ........ 

Armored Cruiser "New York" on her way to Puerto Kico .... 

New York's Welcome to the Battleship "Te.xas" ...... 

Spanish Merchant Steamer "Panama," Captured Ajiril 25, by Lighthouse 
Tender " Mangrove ".......... 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



and 



F'orward 13-inch Guns on Battleship "Indiana" .... 

F'orward Deck of Dynamite Gun- Vessel " Vesuvius" . . . 
Hospital Ship " Relief " ........ 

Religious Service on Battleship " Iowa," off Havana . 
The Battleship " Maine '' Leaving New York for Havana 
Bombardment of Matanzas, Cuba, by the "New York," "Cincinnati, 

"Puritan," April 27, 1898 ....... 

Ironclads in Action ......... 

Bombardment of Forts at Entrance of Santiago Harbor, Cuba, May 6 
Torpedo-Boat " Ericsson "......... 

Deck-Tube and Projectile of a Torpedo-Boat .... 

Crew of the "Indiana" Watching the "New York" Capture a Prize 
Hurry- Work at Night on Monitor "Puritan" at League Island Navy Yard, 

Philadelphia ...r,n .»,,c 



1898 



PART I 
BLUE JACKETS OF '7b 




BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



CHAPTER I. 



EARLY EXPLOITS UPON THE WATER. —GALLOP'S BATTLE WITH THE INDIANS. — BUCCANEERS 
AND PIRATES. - MORGAN AND BLACKBEARD. -CAPT. KIDD TURNS PIRATE. - DOWNFALI 
OF THE BUCCANEERS' POWER. 




N May, 1636, a stanch little sloop of some twenty tons was 
Standing along Long Island Sound on a trading expedition. 
At her helm stood John Gallop, a sturdy colonist, and a skilful 
seaman, who earned his bread by trading with the Indians that 
at that time thronged the shores of the Sound, and eagerly seized 
any opportunity to traffic with the white men from the colonics of 
Plymouth or New Amsterdam. The colonists sent out beads, knives, 
bright clothes, and sometimes, unfortunately, rum and other strong 
drinks. The Indians in exchange offered skins and peltries of all kinds , 
and, as their simple natures had not been schooled to nice calculations 
of values, the traffic was one of great profit to the more shrewd whites. 
But the trade was not without its perils. Though the Indians wtvo 
simple, and little likely to drive hard bargains, yet they were savages, 
and little accustomed to nice distinctions between their own property 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



and that of others. Their desires once aroused for some gaudy bit of 
cloth or shining glass, they were ready enough to steal it, often making 
their booty secure by the murder of the luckless trader. It so happened, 
that, just before John Gallop set out with his sloop on the spring 
trading cruise, the people of the colony were excitedly discussing the 
probable fate of one Oldham, who some weeks before had set out on 
a like errand, in a pinnace, with a crew of two white boys and two 
Indians, and had never returned. So when, on this May morning, 
Gallop, being forced to hug the shore by stormy weather, saw a small 
vessel lying at anchor in a cove, he immediately ran down nearer, to 
investigate. The crew of the sloop numbered two men and two boys, 
beside the skipper. Gallop. Some heavy duck-guns on board were no 
mean ordnance ; and the New Englander determined to probe the mys- 
tery of Oldham's disappearance, though it might require some fighting. 
As the sloop bore down upon the anchored pinnace, Gallop found no 
lack of signs to arouse his suspicion. The rigging of the strange craft 
was loose, and seemed to have been cut. No lookout v/as visible, and 
she seemed to have been deserted ; but a nearer view showed, lying on 
the deck of the pinnace, fourteen stalwart Indians, one of whom, catching 
sight of the approaching sloop, cut the anchor cable, and called to his 
companions to awake. 

This action on the part of the Indians left Gallop no doubt as to 
their character. Evidently they had captured the pinnace, and had either 
murdered Oldham, or even then had him a prisoner in their midst. The 
daring saUor wasted no time in debate as to the proper course to 
pursue, but clapping all sail on his craft, soon brought her alongside the 
pinnace. As the sloop came up, the Indians opened the fight with fire-arms 
and spears ; but Gallop's crew responded with their duck-guns with such 
vigor that the Indians deserted the decks, and fled below for shelter. 
Gallop was then in a quandary. The odds against him were too great 
for him to dare to board, and the pinnace was rapidly drifting ashore. 
After some deliberation he put up his helm, and beat to windward of 
the pinnace ; then, coming about, came scudding down upon her before the 
wind. The two vessels met with a tremendous shock. The bow of the 
sloop struck the pinnace fairly amidships, forcing her over on her beam- 
ends, until the water poured into the open hatchway. The affrighted 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



Indians, unused to warfare on the water, rushed upon deck. Six leaped 
into the sea, and were drowned ; the rest retreated again into the 
cabin. Gallop then prepared to repeat his ramming manoeuvre. This 
time, to make the blow more effective, he lashed his anchor to the bow, 
so that the sharp flukes protruded ; thus extemporizing an iron-clad ram 
more than two hundred years before naval men thought of using one. 
Thus provided, the second blow of the sloop was more terrible than the 
first. The sharp fluke of the anchor crashed through the side of 
the pinnace, and the two vessels hung tightly together. Gallop then 
began to double-load his duck-guns, and fire through the sides of the 
pinnace ; but, finding that the enemy was not to be dislodged in this 
way, he broke his vessel loose, and again made for the windward, 
preparatory to a third blow. As the sloop drew off, four or five more 
Indians rushed from the cabin of the pinnace, and leaped overboard, 
but shared the fate of their predecessors, being far from land. Gallop 
then came about, and for the third time bore down upon his adversary. 
As he drew near, an Indian appeared on the deck of the pinnace, and 
with humble gestures offered to submit. Gallop ran alongside, and taking 
the man on board, bound him hand and foot, and placed him in the 
hold. A second redskin then begged for quarter ; but Gallop, fearing 
to allow the two wily savages to be together, cast the second into the 
sea, where he was drowned. Gallop then boarded the pinnace. Two 
Indians were lett, who retreated into a small compartment of the hold, 
and were left unmolested. In the cabin was found the mangled body 
of Mr. Oldham. A tomahawk had been sunk deep into his skull, and 
his body was covered with wounds. The floor of the cabin was littered 
with portions of the cargo, which the murderous savages had plundered. 
Taking all that remained of value upon his own craft, Gallop cut loose 
the pinnace ; and she drifted away, to go to pieces on a reef in 
Narragansett Bay. 

This combat is the earliest action upon American waters of which 
we have any trustworthy records. The only naval event antedating this 
was the expedition from Virginia, under Capt. Samuel Argal, against the 
little French settlement of San Sauveur. Indeed, had it not been for 
the pirates and the neighboring French settlements, there would be little 
in the early history of the American Colonies to attract the lover of 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



naval history. But about 1645 the buccaneers began to commit depre- 
dations on the high seas, and it became necessary for the Colonies to 
take steps for the protection of their commerce. In this year an eighteen- 
gun ship from Cambridge, Mass., fell in with a Barbary pirate of twenty 
guns, and was hard put to it to escape. And, as the seventeenth 
century drew near its close, these pests of the sea so increased, that 
evil was sure to befall the peaceful merchantman that put to sea with- 
out due preparation for a fight or two with the sea robbers. 

It was in the low-lying islands of the Gulf of Mexico, that these 
predatory gentry — buccaneers, marooners, or pirates — made their head- 
quarters, and lay in wait for the richly freighted merchantmen in the 
West India trade. Men of all nationalities sailed under the " Jolly 
Roger," — as the dread black flag with skull and cross-bones was called, — 
but chiefly were they French and Spaniards. The continual wars that 
in that turbulent time racked Europe gave to the marauders of the 
sea a specious excuse for their occupation. Thus, many a Spanish 
schooner, manned by a swarthy crew bent on plunder, commenced her 
career on the Spanish Main, with the intention of taking only ships 
belonging to France and England ; but let a richly laden Spanish galleon 
appear, after a long season of ill-fortune, and all scruples were thrown 
aside, the "Jolly Roger" sent merrily to the fore, and another pirate 
was added to the list of those that made the highways of the sea as 
dangerous to travel as the footpad infested common of Hounslow Heath. 
English ships went out to hunt down the treacherous Spaniards, and 
stayed to rob and pillage indiscriminately ; and not a few of the names 
now honored as those of eminent English discoverers, were once dreaded 
as being borne by merciless pirates. 

But the most powerful of the buccaneers on the Spanish Main were 
French, and between them and the Spaniards an unceasing warfare was 
waged. There were desperate men on either side, and mighty stories 
are told of their deeds of valor. There were Pierre Francois, who, with 
si.x and twenty desperadoes, dashed into the heart of a Spanish fleet, and 
captured the admiral's flag-ship; Bartholomew Portuguese, who, with 
thirty men, made repeated attacks upon a great Indiaman with a crew of 
seventy, and though beaten back time and again, persisted until the crew 
surrendered to the twenty buccaneers left alive ; Frangois I'Olonoise, who 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



sacked the cities of Maracaibo and Gibraltar, and who, on hearing that 
a man-o'-vvar had been sent to drive him away, went boldly to meet 
her, captured her, and slaughtered all of the crew save one, whom he sent 
to bear the bloody tidings to the governor of Havana. 

Such were the buccaneers, — desperate, merciless, and insatiate in their 
lust for plunder. So numerous did they finally become, that no merchant 
dared to send a ship to the West Indies; and the pirates, finding 
that they had fairly exterminated their game, were fain to turn land- 
wards for further booty. It was an Englishman that showed the sea 
rovers this new plan of pillage ; one Louis Scott, who descended upon 
the town of Campeche, and, after stripping the place to the bare walls, 
demanded that a heavy tribute be paid him, in default of which he 
would burn the town. Loaded with booty, he sailed back to the buc- 
caneers' haunts in the Tortugas. This expedition was the example that 
the buccaneers followed for the next few years. City after city fell a 
prey to the demoniac attacks of the lawless rovers. Houses and churches 
were sacked, towns given to the flames, rich and poor plundered alike ; 
murder was rampant ; and men and women were subjected to the most 
horrid tortures, to extort information as to buried treasures. 

Two great names stand out pre-eminent amid the host of outlaws 
that took part in this reign of rapine, — I'Olonoise and Sir Henry Morgan. 
The desperate exploits of these two worthies would, if recounted, fill 
volumes ; and probably no more extraordinary narrative of cruelty, courage, 
suffering, and barbaric luxury could be fabricated. Morgan was a Welsh 
man, an emigrant, who, having worked out as a slave the cost of his 
passage across the ocean, took immediate advantage of his freedom to 
take up the trade of piracy. For him was no pillaging of paltry merchant- 
ships. He demanded grander operations, and his bands of desperadoes 
assumed the proportions of armies. Many were the towns that suffered 
from the bloody visitations of Morgan and his men. Puerto del Principe 
yielded up to them three hundred thousand pieces of eight, five hundred 
head of cattle, and many prisoners. Porto Bello was bravely defended 
against the barbarians ; and the stubbornness of the defence so enraged 
Morgan, that he swore that no quarter should be given the defenders. 
And so when some hours later the chief fortress surrendered, the 
merciless buccaneer locked its garrison in the guard-room, set a torch to 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



the magazine, and sent castle and garrison flying into the air. Maracaibo 
and Gibraltar next fell into the clutches of the pirate. At the latter 
town, finding himself caught in a river with three men-of-war anchored 
at its mouth, he hastily built a fire-ship, put some desperate men at the 
helm, and sent her, a sheet of flame, into the midst of the squadron. 
The admiral's ship was destroyed ; and the pirates sailed away, e.xulting 
over their adversaries' discomfiture. Rejoicing over their victories, the 
followers of Morgan then planned a venture that should eclipse all that 
had gone before. This was no less than a descent upon Panama, the 
most powerful of the West Indian cities. For this undertaking, Morgan 
gathered around him an army of over two thousand desperadoes of all 
nationalities. A little village on the island of Hispaniola was chosen as 
the recruiting station ; and thither flocked pirates, thieves, and adventurers 
from all parts of the world. It was a motley crew thus gathered together, — 
Spaniards, swarthy skinned and black haired ; wiry Frenchmen, quick to 
anger, and ever ready with cutlass or pistol ; Malays and Lascars, half 
;lad in gaudy colors, treacherous and sullen, with a hand ever on their 
glittering creeses ; Englishmen, handy alike with fist, bludgeon, or cutlass, 
and mightily given to fearful oaths ; negroes, Moors, and a few West 
Indians mixed with the lawless throng. 

• Having gathered his band, procured provisions (chiefly by plundering), 
and built a fleet of boats, Morgan put his forces in motion. The first 
obstacle in his path was the Castle of Chagres, which guarded the mouth 
of the Chagres River, up which the buccaneers must pass to reach the 
city of Panama. To capture this fortress, Morgan sent his vice-admiral 
Bradley, with four hundred men. The Spaniards were evidently warned 
of their approach ; for hardly had the first ship flying the piratical ensign 
appeared at the mouth of the river, when the royal standard of Spain 
was hoisted above the castle, and the dull report of a shotted gun told 
the pirates that there was a stubborn resistance in store for them. 

Landing some miles below the castle, and cutting their way with 
hatchet and sabre through the densely interwoven vegetation of a tropical 
jungle, the pirates at last reached a spot from which a clear view of 
the castle could be obtained. As they emerged from the forest to the 
open, the sight greatly disheartened them. They saw a powerful fort, 
with bastions, moat, drawbridge, and precipitous natural defences. Many 



BLUE-JACKKTS OF '76. 



of the pirates advised a retreat ; but Bradley, dreading the anger of 
Morgan, ordered an assault. Time after time did the desperate buc- 
caneers, with horrid yells, rush upon the fort, only to be beaten back 
by the well-directed volleys of the garrison. They charged up to the 
very walls, threw over fireballs, and hacked the timbers with axes, but 
to no avail. From behind their impregnable ramparts, the Spaniards fireci 
murderous volleys, crying out, — 

" Come on, you English devils, you heretics, the enemies of God and 
of the king ! Let your comrades who are behind come also. We will serve 
them as we have served you. You shall not get to Panama this time." 

As night fell, the pirates withdrew into the thickets to escape the fire 
of their enemies, and to discuss their discomfiture. As one group of 
buccaneers lay in the jungle, a chance arrow, shot by an Indian in the 
fort, struck one of them in the arm. Springing to his feet with a cry 
of rage and pain, the wounded man cried out as he tore the arrow from 
the bleeding wound, — ■ 

"Look here, my comrades. I will make this accursed arrow the 
means of the destruction of all the Spaniards." 

So saying, he wrap[jcd a quantity of cotton about the head of the 
arrow, charged his gun with powder, and, thrusting the arrow into the 
muzzle, fired. His comrades eagerly watched the flight of the missile, 
which was easily traced by the flaming cotton. Hurtling through the 
air, the fiery missile fell upon a thatched roof within the castle, and 
the dry straw and leaves were instantly in a blaze. With cries of savage 
joy, the buccaneers ran about picking up the arrows that lay scattered 
over the battle-field. Soon the air was full of the firebrands, and the 
woodwork within the castle enclosure was a mass of flame. One arrow 
fell within the magazine ; and a burst of smoke and flame, and the dull 
roar of an explosion, followed. The Spaniards worked valiantly to 
extinguish the flames, and to beat back their assailants ; but the fire 
raged beyond their control, and the bright light made them easy targets 
for tiicir foes. There could be but one issue to such a conflict. I5y 
morning the fort was in the hands of the buccaneers, ant! of the garrison 
of three hundred and fourteen only fourteen were unhurt. Over the 
ruins of the fort the English flag was hoisted, the shattered walls were 
repaired, and the place made a rendezvous for Morgan's forces. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



On the scene of the battle Morgan drilled his forces, and prepared 
for the march and battles that were to come. After some days' prepa- 
ration, the expedition set out. The road lay through tangled tropical 
forests, under a burning sun. Little food was taken, as the invaders 
expected to live on the country ; but the inhabitants fled before the 
advancing column, destroying every thing eatable. Soon starvation stared 
the desperadoes in the face. They fed upon berries, roots, and leaves. 
As the days passed, and no food was to be found, they sliced uj) and 
devoured coarse leather bags. For a time, it seemed that they would 
never escape alive from the jungle ; but at last, weak, weary, and emaci- 
ated, they came out upon a grassy plain before the city of Panama. 
Here, a few days later, a great battle was fought. The Spaniards out- 
numbered the invaders, and were better provided with munitions of war; 
yet the pirates, fighting with the bravery of desperate men, were victori- 
ous, and the city fell into their hands. Then followed days of murder, 
plunder, and debauchery. Morgan saw his followers, maddened by liquor, 
scoff at the idea of discipline and obedience. Fearing that while his 
men were helplessly drunk the Spaniards would rally and cut them to 
pieces, he set fire to the city, that the stores of rum might be destroyed. 
After sacking the town, the vandals packed their plunder on the backs 
of mules, and retraced their steps to the seaboard. Their booty amounted 
to over two millions of dollars. Over the division of this enormous sum 
great dissensions arose, and Morgan saw the mutinous spirit spreading 
rapidly among his men. With a few accomplices, therefore, he loaded a 
ship with the plunder, and secretly set sail ; leaving over half of his 
band, without food or shelter, in a hostile country. Many of the aban- 
doned buccaneers starved, some were shot or hanged by the enraged 
Spaniards ; but the leader of the rapacious gang reached Jamaica with a 
huge fortune, and was appointed governor of the island, and made 
a baronet by the reigning king of England, Charles the Second. 

Such were some of the exploits of some of the more notorious of the 
buccaneers. It may be readily imagined, that, with hordes of desperadoes 
such as these infesting the waters of the West Indies, there was little 
opportunity for the American Colonies to build up any maritime interests 
in that direction. And as the merchantmen became scarce on the 
Spanish Main, such of the buccaneers as did not turn landward in search 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



of booty put out to sea, and ravaged the ocean pathways between the 
Colonies and England. It was against these pirates, that the earliest 
naval operations of the Colonies were directed. Several cruisers were 
fitted out to rid the seas of these pests, but we hear little of their success. 
But the name of one officer sent against the pirates has become 
notorious as that of the worst villain of them all. 

It was in January, 1665, that William III., King of England, issued 
" to our true and well-beloved Capt. William Kidd, commander of the 
ship 'Adventure,'" a commission to proceed against "divers wicked 
persons who commit many and great piracies, robberies, and depredations 
on the seas." Kidd was a merchant of New York, and had commanded 
a privateer during the last war with France. He was a man of great 
courage, and, being provided with a stanch ship and brave crew, set out 
with high hopes of winning great reputation and much prize money. 
But fortune was against him. For months the " Adventure " ploughed 
the blue waves of the ocean, yet not a sail appeared on the horizon. 
Once, indeed, three ships were seen in the distance. The men of the 
"Adventure" were overjoyed at the prospect of a rich prize. The ship 
was prepared for action. The men, stripped to the waist, stood at their 
quarters, talking of the coming battle. Kidd stood in the rigging with a 
spy-glass, eagerly examining the distant vessels. But only disappointment 
was in store ; for, as the ships drew nearer, Kidd shut his spy-glass with 
an oath, saying, — 

"They are only three PLnglish men o'-war." 

Continued disappointment bred discontent and mutiny among the 
crew. They had been enlisted with lavish promises of prize money, but 
saw before them nothing but a profitless cruise. The spirit of discontent 
spread rapidly. Three or four ships that were sighted proved to be 
neither pirates nor French, anil were therefore beyond the powers of 
capture granted Kidd by the king. Kidd fought against the growing 
piratical sentiment for a long time ; but temptation at last overcame him, 
and he yielded. Near the Straits of Babelmandeb, at the entrance to the 
Red Sea, he landed a party, plundered the adjoining country for provisions, 
and, turning his ship's prow toward the straits, mustered his crew on 
deck, and thus addressed them : — ■ 

" VVe have been unsuccessful hitherto, my boys," he said, "but take 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



courage. Fortune is now about to smile upon us. The fleet of the 
' Great Mogul,' freighted with the richest treasures, is soon to come out 
of the Red Sea. From the capture of those heavily laden ships, we will 
•all grow rich." 

The crew, ready enough to become pirates, cheered lustily : and, turning 
his back upon all hopes of an honorable career, Kidd set out in search 
of the treasure fleet. After cruising for four days, the " Adventure " 
icll in with the squadron, which proved to be under convoy of an 
English and a Dutch man-of-war. The squadron was a large one, and 
the ships greatly scattered. By skilful seamanship, Kidd dashed down 
upon an outlying vessel, hoping to capture and plunder it before the 
convoying men-of-war could come to its rescue. But his first shot 
attracted the attention of the watchful guardians ; and, though several 
miles away, they packed on all sail, and bore down to the rescue with 
such spirit that the disappointed pirate was forced to sheer off. Kidd 
was now desperate. He had failed as a reputable privateer, and his 
ilrst attempt at piracy had failed. Thenceforward, he cast aside all 
scruples, and captured large ships and small, tortured their crews, and 
for a time seemed resolved to lead a piratical life. But there are 
evidences that at times this strange man relented, and strove to return 
to the path of duty and right. On one occasion, a Dutch ship crossed 
the path of the " Adventure," and the crew clamorously demanded her 
capture. Kidd firmly refused. A tumult arose. The captain drew his 
sabre and pistols, and gathering about him those still faithful, addressed 
the mutineers, saying, — 

" You may take the boats and go. But those who thus leave this 
ship will never ascend its sides again." 

The mutineers murmured loudly. One man, a gunner, named William 
Moore, stepped forward, saying, — 

" You are ruining us all. You are keeping us in beggary and 
starvation. But for your whims, we might all be prosperous and rich." 

At this outspoken mutiny, Kidd flew into a passion. Seizing a heavy 
bucket that stood near, he dealt Moore a terrible blow on the head. 
The unhappy man fell to the deck with a fractured skull, and the other 
mutineers sullenly yielded to the captain's will. Moore died the ne.xt 
day ; and months after, when Kidd, after roving the seas, and robbing 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 76. 



ships of every nationality, was brought to trial at London, it was for 
the murder of William Moore that he was condemned to die. For 
Kidd's career subsequent to the incident of the Dutch ship was that 
of a hardened pirate. He captured and robbed shijjs, antl tortLucd their 
passengers. He went to Madagascar, the rendezvous of the pirates, and 
joined in their revelry and debauchery. On the island were five or si.\ 
hundred pirates, and ships flying the black flag were continually arriving 
or departing. The streets resounded with shouts of revelry, with curses, 
and with the cries of rage. Strong drinks were freely used. Drunkenness 
was everywhere. It was no uncommon thing for a hogshead of wine 
to be opened, and left standing in the streets, that any might drink 
who chose. The pirates, flush with their ill-gotten gains, spent money on 
gambling and kindred vices lavishly. The women who accompanied them 
to this lawless place were decked out with barbaric splendor in silks 
and jewels. On the arrival of a ship, the debauchery was unbounded. 
Such noted pirates as Blackbeard, Steed Bonnet, and Avary made the 
place their rendezvous, and brought thither their rich prizes and wretched 
prisoners. Blackbeard was one of the most desperate pirates of the age. 
He, with part of his crew, once terrorized the officials of Charleston, S.C, 
exacting tribute of medicines and provisions. Finally he was killed in 
action, and sixteen of his desperate gang expiated their crimes on the 
gallows. 

To Madagascar, too, often came the two female pirates, Mary Read 
and Anne Bonny. These women, masquerading in men's clothing, were 
as desperate and bloody as the men by whose side they fought. By 
a strange coincidence, these two women enlisted on the same ship. 
Each knowing her own sex, and being ignorant of that of the other, they 
fell in love ; and the final discovery of their mutual deception increased 
their intimacy. After serving with the pirates, working at the guns, 
swinging a cutlass in the boarding parties, and fighting a duel in which 
she killed her opponent, Mary Read determined to escape. There is 
every evidence that she wearied of the evil life she was leading, and 
was determined to quit it ; but, before she could carry her intentions 
into effect, the ship on which she served was captured, and taken to 
England, where the pirates expiated their crimes on the gallows, Mary 
Read dying in prison before the day set for her execution. 



10 BLUK-JACKETS OF '76. 

After some months spent in licentious revelry at Madagascar, Kidd 
set out on a further cruise. Durinj; this voyage he learned that he had 
been proscribed as a pirate, and a price set on his head. Strange as 
it may appear, this news was a surprise to him. He seems to have 
deceived himself into thinking that his acts of piracy were simply the 
legitimate work of a privateersman. For a time he knew not what 
to do ; but as by this time the coarse pleasures of an outlaw's life were 
distasteful to him, he determined to proceed to New York, and endeavor 
to prove himself an honest man. This determination proved to be an 
unfortunate one for him ; for hardly had he arrived, when he was taken 
into custody, and sent to England for trial. He made an able defence, 
but was found guilty, and sentenced to be hanged ; a sentence which 
was executed some months later, in the presence of a vast multitude 
of people, who applauded in the death of Kidd the end of the reign of . 
outlaws upon the ocean. ' 





CHAPTER II. 



EXPEDITIONS AGAINST NEIGHBORING COLONIES. —ROMANTIC CAREER OF SIR WILLIAM PHIPPS. 
— QUELLING A MUTINY. — EXPEDITIONS AGAINST QUEBEC. 




HILE it was chiefly in expeditions against the buccaneers, oi: 
y. ^1 in the defence of merchantmen against these predatory gentry, 
^i.r\ ^^'^^^ the American colonists gained their experience in naval 
warfare, there were, nevertheless, some few naval expeditions 
fitted out by the colonists against the forces of a hostile governme'\t. 
Both to the north and south lay the territory of France and Spain, -- 
England's traditional enemies ; and so soon as the colonies began to 
give evidence of their value to the mother country, so soon were they 
dragged into the quarrels in which the haughty mistress of the seas was 
ever plunged. Of the southern colonics. South Carolina was continually 
embroiled with Spain, owing to the conviction of the Spanish that the 
boundaries of Florida — at that time a Spanish colony — included the 
greater part of the Carolinas. For the purpose of enforcing this idea, 
the Spaniards, in 1 706, fitted out an expedition of four ships-of-war 
and a galley, which, under the command of a celebrated French admiral, 
2 II 



12 BLUE-JACKKTS OF '76. 



was despatched to take Charleston. The people of Charleston were in 
no whit daunted, am! on the receipt of the news of the expedition began 
preparations for resistance. They had no naval vessels ; but several 
large merchantmen, being in port, were hastily provided with batteries, 
and a large galley was converted into a flag-ship. Having no trained 
naval officers, the command of the improvised squadron was tendered 
to a certain Lieut. -Col. Rhett, who possessed the confidence of the 
colonists. Rhett accepted the command ; and when the attacking party 
cast anchor some miles below the city, and landed their shore forces, 
he weighetl anchor, and set out to attack them. But the Spaniards 
avoided the conflict, and fled out to sea, leaving their land forces to 
bear the brunt of battle. In this action, more than half of the invaders 
were killed or taken prisoners. Some days later, one of the Spanish 
\essels, having been separated from her consorts, was discovered by 
Rhett, who attacked her, and after a sharp fight captured her, bringing 
her with ninety prisoners to Charleston. 

But it was chiefly in expeditions against the French colonics to 
the northward that the naval strength of the English colonics was 
exerted. Particularly were the colonies ol Port Royal, in Acadia, and 
the French stronghokl of Quebec co\-etetl by the British, and they proved 
fertile sources of contention in the opening years of the eighteenth 
century. Although the movement for the capture of these colonies was 
incited by the ruling authorities of Great Britain, its execution was left 
largely to the colonists. One of the earliest of these expeditions was 
that which sailed from Nantasket, near Boston, in April, 1690, bound 
for the conquest of Port Royal. 

This expedition was under the commanil of Sir William Phipps, 
a sturdy colonist, whose life was not devoid of romantic episodes. 
Though his ambitions were of the lowliest, — his dearest wish being "to 
command a king's ship, and own a fair brick house in the Green Lane 
of North Boston," — he managed to win for himself no small amount of 
fame and respect in the colonies. His first achievement was character- 
istic of that time, when Spanish galleons, freighted with golden ingots, 
still sailed the seas, when pirates buried their booty, and when the 
treasures carried down in sunken ships were not brought up the ne.vt 
day by divers clad in patented submarine armor. From a weather-beaten 



BLUK-J-^^'^l'^l'S 0[< '76. 13 

old seaman, with whom he became acquainted while pursuing his trade 
of ship-carpentering, I'hipps learned of a sunken wreck lying on the 
sandy bottom many fathoms beneath the blue surface of the Gulf of 
Mexico. The vessel had gone down fifty years before, and had carried 
with her great store of gold and silver, wliich she was carrying from 
the rich mines of Central and South America to the Court of Spain. 
Phipps, laboriously toiling with adze and saw in his ship-yard, listened 
to the story of the sailor, his blood coursing quicker in his veins, and 
his ambition for wealth and position aroused to its fullest extent. Here, 
then, thought he, was the opportunity of a lifetime. Could he but 
recover the treasures carried down with the sunken ship, he would have 
wealth and position in the colony. With these two allies at his com- 
mand, the task of securing a command in the king's navy would be an 
easy one. But to seek out the sunken treasure required a ship and 
seamen. Clearly his own slender means could never meet the demands 
of so great an undertaking. Therefore, gathering together all his small 
savings, William Phipps set sail for England, in the hopes of interesting 
capitalists there in his scheme. By dint of indomitable persistence, the 
unknown American ship-carpenter managed to secure the influence of 
certain officials of high station in England, and finally managed to get 
the assistance of the British admiralty. A frigate, fully manned, was 
given him, and he set sail for the West Indies. 

Once arrived in the waters of the Spanish Main, he began his search. 
Cruising about the spot indicated by his seafaring informant as the location 
of the sunken vessel, sounding and dredging occupied the time of the 
treasure-seekers for months. The crew, wearying of the fruitless search, 
began to murmur, and signs of mutiny were rife. Phijips, filled with 
thoughts of the treasure for which he sought, saw not at all the lowering 
looks, nor heard the half-uttered threats, of the crew as he passed them. But 
finally the mutiny so developed that he could no longer ignore its existence. 

It was then the era of the buccaneers. Doubtless some of the crew 
had visited the outlaws' rendezvous at New Providence, and had told their 
comrades of the revelry and case in which the sea robbers spent their 
days. And so it happened that one day, as Phipps stood on the quarter- 
deck vainly trying to choke down the nameless fear that had begun to 
oppress him, — the fear that his life's venture had proved a failure, — his 



U BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



crew came crowding aft, armed to the teeth, and loudly demanded that 
the captain should abandon his foolish search, and lead them on a fear- 
less buccaneering cruise along the Spanish Main. The mutiny was one 
which might well have dismayed the boldest sea captain. The men were 
desperate, and well armed. Phipps was almost without support ; for his 
officers, by their irresolute and timid demeanor, gave him little assurance 
of aid. 

Standing on the quarter-deck, Phipps listened impatiently to the com- 
plaints of the mutineers ; but, when their spokesman called upon him to 
lead them upon a piratical cruise, he lost all control of himself, and, 
throwing all prudence to the winds, sprung into the midst of the mal- 
contents, and laid about him right manfully with his bare fists. The 
mutineers were all well armed, but seemed loath to use their weapons ; 
and the captain, a tall, powerful man, soon awed them all into submission. 

Though he showed indomitable energy in overcoming obstacles, 
Phipps was not destined to discover the object of his search at this 
time ; and, after several months' cruising, he was forced, by the leaky 
condition of his vessel, to abandon the search. But, before leaving the 
waters of the Spanish Main, he obtained enough information to convince 
him that his plan was a practicable one, and no mere visionary scheme. 
On reaching England, he went at once to some wealthy noblemen, and, 
laying before them all the facts in his possession, so interested them in 
the project that they readily agreed to supply him with a fresh outfit. 
After a few weeks spent in organizing his expedition, the treasure-seeker 
was again on the ocean, making his way toward the Mexican Gulf. This 
time his search was successful, and a few days' work with divers and 
dredges about the sunken ship brought to light bullion and specie to 
the amount of more than a million and a half dollars. As his ill 
success in the first expedition had embroiled him with his crew, so his 
good fortune this time aroused the cupidity of the sailors. Vague rumors 
of plotting against his life reached the ears of Phipps. Examining 
further into the matter, he learned that the crew was plotting to seize 
the vessel, divide the treasure, and set out upon a buccaneering cruise. 
Alarmed at this intelligence, Phipps strove to conciliate the seamen by 
offering them a share of the treasure. Each man should receive a 
portion, he promised, even if he himself had to pay it. The men agreed 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 1 5 

to this proposition ; and so well did Phipps keep his word with tlicm on 
returning to England, that, of the whole treasure, only about eighty thou- 
sand dollars remained to him as his share. This, however, was an ample 
fortune for those times ; and with it Phipps returned to Boston, and began 
to devote himself to the task of securing a command in the royal navy. 

His first opportunity to distinguish himself came in the expedition of 
1690 against Port Royal. Throughout the wars between France and 
England, the French settlement of Port Royal had been a thorn in the 
flesh of Massachusetts. From Port Royal, the trim-built speedy French 
privateers put to sea, and seldom returned without bringing in their 
wake some captured coaster or luckless fisherman hailing from the 
colony of the Puritans. When the depredations of the privateers became 
unbearable, Massachusetts bestirred herself, and the doughty Phipps was 
sent with an expedition to reduce their unneighborly neighbor to sub- 
jection. Seven vessels and two hundred and eighty-eight men were put 
under the command of the lucky treasure-hunter. The e.xpedition was 
devoid of exciting or novel features. Port Royal was reached without 
disaster, and the governor surrendered with a promptitude which should 
have won immunity for the people of the vi'lage. But the Massachusetts 
sailors had not undertaken the enterprise for glory alone, and they 
plundered the town before taking to their ships again. 

This expedition, however, was but an unimportant incident in the naval 
annals of the colonies. It was followed quickly by an expedition of much 
graver importance. 

When Phipps returneil after capturing and plundering Port Royal, 
he found Boston vastly excited over the preparations for an expedition 
against Quebec. The colony was in no condition to undertake the work 
of conquest. Prolonged Indian wars had greatly depleted its treasury. 
Vainly it appealed to lingland for aid, but, receiving no encouragement, 
sturdily determined to undertake the expedition unaided. Sailors were 
pressed from the merchant-shipping. Trained bands, as the militia of 
that day was called, drilled in the streets, and on the common. Subscrip- 
tion papers were being circulated ; and vessel owners were blandly given 
the choice between voluntarily loaning their vessels to the colony, or 
having them peremptorily seized. In this way a fleet of thirty-two vessels 
had been collected; the largest of which was a ship called the "Six 



1 6 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

Friends," built for the West India trade, and carrying forty-four guns. 
Tliis armada was manned by seamen picl<ed up by a press so vigorous, 
tliat Gloucester, the chief seafaring town of the colony, was robbed of 
two-thirds of its men. Hardly had Capt. Phipps, flushed with victory, 
returned from his Port Royal expedition, when he was given command of 
the armada destined for the capture of Quebec. 

Early in y\ugust the flotilla set sail from Boston Harbor. The day was 
clear and warm, with a light breeze blowing. F"rom his flag-ship Phipps 
gave the signal for weighing anchor, and soon the decks of the vessels 
thickly strewn about the harbor resounded to the tread of men about the 
capstan. Thirty-two vessels of the squadron floated lightly on the calm 
waters of the bay ; and darting in and out among them were light craft 
carrying pleasure-seekers who had come down to witness the sailing of the 
fleet, friends and relatives of the sailors who were there to say farewell, 
and the civic dignitaries who came to wish the expedition success. One 
by one the vessels beat their way down tlie bay, and, rounding the danger- 
ous leef at the mouth of the harbor, laid their course to the northward. 
It was a motley fleet of vessels. The " Six Brothers " led the way, 
followed by brigs, schooners, and many sloop-rigged fishing-smacks. With 
so ill-assorted a flotilla, it was impossible to keep any definite .sailing order. 
The first night scattered the vessels far and wide, and thenceforward 
the squadron was not united until it again came to anchor just above the 
mouth of the St. Lawrence. It seemed as though the very elements had 
combined against the voyagers. Though looking for summer weather, they 
encountered the bitter gales of November. Only after they had all safely 
entered the St. Lawrence, and were beyond injury from the storms, did the 
gales cease. They had suffered all the injury that tempestuous weather 
could do them, and they then had to chafe under the enforced restraints 
rf a calm. 

Phipps had rallied his scattered fleet, and had proceeded up the great 
river of the North to within three days' sail of Quebec, when the calm 
overtook him. On the way up the river he had captured two l-'rench 
luggers, and learned from his prisoners that Quebec was poorly fortified, 
that the cannon on the redoubts were dismounted, and that hardly two 
hundred men could be rallied to its defence. Highly elated at this, the 
Massachusetts admiral pressed forward. He anticipated that Quebec, 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 1 7 

like Port Royal, would surrender without striking a blow. Visions of 
high honors, and perhaps even a commission in the royal navy, floated 
across his brain. And while thus hurrying forward his fleet, drilling his 
men, and building his air-castlcs, his further progress was stopped by a 
dead calm which lasted three weeks. 

How fatal to his hopes that calm was, Phipps, perhaps, never knew. 
The information he had wrung from his French prisoners was absolutely 
correct. Quebec at that time was helpless, and virtually at his mercy. 
But, while the Massachusetts armada lay idly floating on the unruffled 
bosom of the river, a man was hastening towards Quebec whose timely 
arrival meant the salvation of the French citadel. 

This man was Frontenac, then governor of the French colony, and 
one of the most picturesque figures in American history. A soldier of 
France; a polished courtier at the royal court; a hero on the battle-field, 
and a favorite in the ball-room ; a man poor in pocket, but rich in influ« 
ential connections, — Frontenac had come to the New World to seek that 
fortune and position which he had in vain sought in the Old. When 
the vague rumors of the hostile expedition of the Massachusetts colony 
reached his ears, Frontenac was far from Quebec, toiling in the western 
part of the colony. Wasting no time, he turned his steps toward the 
threatened city. His road lay through an almost trackless wilderness; 
his progress was impeded by the pelting rains of the autumnal storms. 
But through forest and through rain he rode fiercely; and at last as he 
burst from the forest, and saw towering before him the rocks of Cape 
Diamond, a cry of joy burst from his lips. On the broad, still bosom of 
the St. Lawrence Bay floated not a single hostile sail. The soldier had 
come in time. 

With the governor in the city, all took courage, and the work of 
preparation for the coming struggle went forward with a rush. I'ar and 
wide throughout the parishes was spread the news of war, and daily 
volunteers came flocking in to the defence. The ramparts were strength- 
ened, and cannon mounted. Volunteers and regulars drilled side by side, 
until the four thousand men in the city were converted into a well- 
disciplined body of troops. And all the time the sentinels on the Saut 
au Matelot were eagerly watching the river for the first sign of the 
English invaders. 



l8 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



It was before dawn, on the morning of Oct. 16, that the people ot 
the little city, and the soldiery in the tents, were awakened by the 
alarm raised by the sentries. All rushed to the brink of the heights, 
and peered eagerly out into the darkness. Far down the river could be 
seen the twinkling lights of vessels. As the eager watchers strove to 
count them, other lights appeared upon the scene, moving to and fro, 
but with a steady advance upon Quebec. The gray dawn, breaking in 
the east, showed the advancing fleet. Frontenac and his lieutenants 
watched the ships of the enemy round the jutting headland of the 
Point of Orleans ; and, by the time the sun had risen, thirty-four hostile 
craft were at anchor in the basin of Quebec. 

The progress of the fleet up the river, from the point at which it 
had been so long delayed, had been slow, and greatly impeded by the 
determined hostility of the settlers along the banks. The sailors at 
their work were apt to be startled by the whiz of a bulbt ; and an 
inquiry as to the cause would have probably discovered some crouching 
sharp-shooter, his long rifle in his hand, hidden in a clump of bushes 
along the shore. Bands of armed men followed the fleet up the stream, 
keeping pace with the vessels, and occasionally affording gentle reminders 
of their presence in the shape of volleys of rifle-balls that sung through the 
crowded decks of the transports, and gave the sailor lads a hearty disgust 
for this river fighting. Phipps tried repeatedly to land shore parties to 
clear the banks of skirmishers, and to move on the city by land. As 
often, however, as he made the effort, his troops were beaten back by 
the ambushed sharp-shooters, and his boats returned to the ships, bringing 
several dead and wounded. 

While the soldiery on the highlands of Quebec were eagerly examining 
the hostile fleet, the invaders were looking with wonder and admiration 
at the scene of surpassing beauty spread out before them. Parkman, 
the historian and lover of the annals of the P^rcnch in America, thus 
describes it : — 

"When, after his protracted voyage, Phipps sailed into the basin 
of Quebec, one of the grandest scenes on the western continent opened 
upon his sight. The wide expanse of waters, the lofty promontory beyond, 
and the opposing Heights of Levi, the cataract of Montmorenci, the distant 
range of the Laurentian Mountains, the warlike rock with its diadem 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 1 9 

of walls and towers, the roofs of the Lower Town clustering on the strand 
beneath, the Chateau St. Louis perched at the brink of the cliff, and 
over it the white banner, spangled with flciirs dc lis, flaunting defiance 
in the clear autumnal air." 

Little time was spent, however, in admiration of the scene. When 
the click of the last chain-cable had ceased, and, with their anchors 
reposing at the bottom of the stream, the ships swung around with their 
bows to the current, a boat put off from the flag-ship bearing an officer 
intrusted with a note from Phipps to the commandant of the fort. The. 
reception of this officer was highly theatrical. Half way to the shore 
he was taken into a French canoe, blindfolded, and taken ashore. The 
populace crowded about him as he landed, hooting and jeering him as 
he was led through winding, narrow ways, up stairways, and over obstruc- 
tions, until at last the bandage was torn from his eyes, and he found 
himself in the presence of Frontenac. The French commander was clad 
in a brilliant uniform, and surrounded by his staff, gay in warlike finery. 
With courtly courtesy he asked the envoy for his letter, which, proving 
to be a curt summons to surrender, he answered forthwith in a stinging 
speech. The envoy, abashed, asked for a written answer. 

" No," thundered Frontenac, " I will answer your master only by the 
mouths of my cannon, that he may learn that a man like me is not 
to be summoned after this fashion. Let him do his best, and I will do 
mine." 

The envoy returned to his craft, and made his report. The next day 
hostilities opened. Wheeling his ships into line before the fortifications, 
Phipps opened a heavy fire upon the city. From the frowning ramparts 
on the heights, Frontenac's cannon answered in kind. Fiercely the 
contest raged until nightfall, and vast was the consumption of gun- 
powder ; but damage done on either side was but little. All night 
the belligerents rested on their arms ; but, at daybreak, the roar of the 
cannonade recommenced. 

The gunners of the opposing forces were now upon their mettle, and 
the gunnery was much better than the day before. A shot from the shore 
cut the flag-staff of the admiral's ship, and the cross of St. George 
fell into the river. Straightway a canoe put out from the shore, and 
with swift, strong paddle-strokes was guided in chase of the floating 
trophy. The fire of the fleet was quickly concentrated unon the 



20 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

adventurous canoeists. Cannon-balls and rifle-bullets cut the water about 
them ; but their frail craft survived the leaden tempest, and they captured 
the trophy, and bore it off in triumph. 

Phipps felt that the incident was an unfavorable omen, and would 
discourage his men. He cast about in his mind for a means of retaliation. 
Far over the roofs of the city rose a tapering spire, that of the cathedral 
in the Upper Town. On this spire, the devout Catholics of the French 
city had hung a picture of the Holy Family as an invocation of Divine 
aid. Through his spy-glass, Phipps could see that some strange object 
hung from the steeple, and, suspecting its character, commanded the 
gunners to try to knock it down. For hours the Puritans wasted their 
ammunition in this vain target-practice, but to no avail. The picture still 
hung on high ; and the devout Frenchmen ascribed its escape to a 
miracle, although its destruction would have been more miraculous still. 

It did not take long to convince Phipps that in this contest his fleet 
was getting badly worsted, and he soon withdrew his vessels to a place 
of safety. The flag-ship had been fairly riddled with shot ; and her 
rigging was so badly cut, that she could only get out of range of the 
enemy's guns by cutting her cables, and drifting away with the current. 
Her example was soon followed by the remaining vessels. 

Sorely crestfallen, Phipps abandoned the fight, and prepared to return 
to Boston. His voyage thither was stormy ; and three or four of his 
vessels never were heard of, having been dashed to pieces by the 
waves, or cast away upon the iron-bound coast of Nova Scotia or Maine. 
His e.xpedition was the most costly in lives and in treasure ever under- 
taken by a single colony, and, despite its failure, forms the most notable 
incident in the naval annals of the colonies prior to the Revolution. 

The French colonies continued to be a fruitful source of war and 
turmoil. Many were the joint military and naval expeditions fitted out 
against them by the British colonies. Quebec, Louisbourg, and Port 
Royal were all threatened ; and the two latter were captured by colonial 
expeditions. From a naval point of view, these expeditions were but 
trifling. They are of some importance, however, in that they gave the 
colonists an opportunity to try their prowess on the ocean ; and in this 
irregular service were bred some sailors who fought right valiantly for 
the rebellious colonies against the king, and others who did no less 
valiant service under the royal banner. 




rs^unSiry^., 




CHAPTER III. 



OPENING OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. — THE 
AFFAIR OF THE SCHOONER "ST. JOHN." — 
THE PRESS-GANG AND ITS WORK. — THE SLOOP 
"LIBERTY." — DESTRUCTION OF THE " GASPEE." 
— THE BOSTON TEA-PARTY. 




T IS unnecessary to enter into an account of the causes that led up 
to the revolt of the American Colonies against the oppression of 
King George and his subservient Parliament. The story of the 
Stamp Act, the indignation of the Colonies, their futile attempts 
to convince Parliament of the injustice of the measure, the stern measures 
adopted by the British to put down the rising insubordination, the Boston 
Massacre, and the battles at Concord and Lexington arc familiar to every 
American boy. But not every young American knows that almost the first 
act of open resistance to the authority of the king took place on the water, 
and was to some extent a naval action. 

The revenue laws, enacted by the English Parliament as a means of 
extorting money from the Colonies, were very obnoxious to the people 
of America. Particularly did the colonists of Rhode Island protest 
against them, and seldom lost an opportunity to evade the payment of 
the taxes. 

Between Providence and Newport, illicit trade flourished ; and the 
waters of Narragansctt Bay were dotted with the sail of small craft 
carrying cargoes on which no duties had ever been paid. In order to 
stop this nefarious traffic, armed vessels were stationed in the Bay, with 
orders to chase and search all craft suspected of smuggling. The presence 
of these vessels gave great offence to the colonists, and the inflexible 

21 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



manner in which the naval officers discharged their duty caused more 
than one open defiance of the authority of King George. 

The first serious trouble to grow out of the presence of the British 
cruisers in the bay was the affair of the schooner "St. John." This vessel 
was engaged in patrolling the waters of the bay in search of smugglers. 
While so engaged, her commander, Lieut. Hill, learned that a brig had 
discharged a suspicious cargo at night near Hovvland's Ferry. Running 
down to that point to investigate, the king's officers found the cargo to 
consist of smuggled goods ; and, leaving a few men in charge, the cruiser 
hastily put out to sea in pursuit of the smuggler. The swift sailing 
schooner soon overtook the brig, and the latter was taken in to Newport 
as a prize. Although this affair occurred early in 1764, the sturdy colonists 
evcH then had little liking for the ofificers of the king. The sailors of the 
"St. John," careless of the evident dislike of the citizens of the town, 
swaggered about the streets, boasting of their capture, and making merry 
at the expense of the Yankees. Two or three fights between sailors and 
townspeople so stirred up the landsmen, that they determined to destroy 
tiie " St. John," and had actually fitted up an armed sloop for that purpose, 
when a second man-of-war appeared in the harbor and put a final stopper 
to the project. Though thus balked of their revenge, the townspeople 
showed their hatred for the king's navy by seizing a battery, and firing 
several shots at the two armed vessels, but without effect. 

During the same year, the little town of Newport again gave evidence 
of the growth of the revolutionary spirit. This time the good old British 
custom of procuring sailors for the king's ships by a system of kidnapping, 
commonly known as impressment, was the cause of the outbreak. For 
some months the British man-of-war " Maidstone " lay in the harbor of 
Newport, idly tugging at her anchors. It was a period of peace, and her 
officers had nothing to occupy their attention. Therefore they devoted 
themselves to increasing the crew of the vessel by means of raids upon 
the taverns along the water-front of the city. 

The seafaring men of Newport knew little peace while the " Maidstone " 
was in port. The king's service was the dread of every sailor ; and, with 
the press-gang nightly walking the streets, no sailor could feel secure. All 
knew the life led by the sailors on the king's ships. Those were the da)s 
when the cat-o'-nine-tails flourished, and the command of a beardless bit of 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 23 



a midshipmen was enough to send a poor fellow to the gratings, to have 
his back cut to pieces by the merciless lash. The Yankee sailors had 
little liking for this phase of sea-life, and they gave the men-of-war a wide 
berth. 

Often it happened, however, that a party of jolly mariners sitting ovei 
their pipes and grog in the snug parlor of some sea-shore tavern, spinning 
yarns of the service they had seen on the gun-decks of his Majesty's ships, 
or of shipwreck and adventure in the merchant service, would start up and 
listen in affright, as the measured tramp of a body of men came up the 
street. Then came the heavy blow on the door. 

"Open in the king's name," shouts a gruff voice outside; and the 
entrapped sailors, overturning the lights, spring for doors and windows, in 
vain attempts to escape the fate in store for them. The press-gang seldom 
returned to the ship empty handed, and the luckless tar who once fell 
into their clutches was wise to accept his capture good naturedly ; for 
the bos'n's cat was the remedy commonly prescribed for sulkiness. 

As long as the "Maidstone" lay in the harbor of Newport, raids 
such as this were of common occurrence. The people of the city 
grumbled a little ; but it was the king's will, and none dared oppose it. 
The wives and sweethearts of the kidnapped sailors shed many a bitter 
tear over the disappearance of their husbands and lovers ; but what were 
the tears of women to King George } And so the press-gang of the 
"Maidstone" might have continued to enjoy unopposed the stirring 
sport of hunting men like beasts, had the leaders not committed one 
atrocious act of inhumanity that roused the long-suffering people to 
resistance. 

One breezy afternoon, a stanch brig, under full sail, came up the 
bay, and entered the harbor of Newport. Her sides were weather-beaten, 
and her dingy sails and patched cordage showed that she had just 
completed her long voyage. Her crew, a fine set of bronzed and hardy 
sailors, were gathered on her forecastle, eagerly regarding the cluster of 
cottages that made up the little town of Newport. In those cottages 
were many loved ones, wives, mothers, and sweethearts, whom the brave 
fellows had not seen for long and weary months ; for the brig was just 
returning from a voyage to the western coast of Africa. 

It is hard to describe the feelings aroused by the arrival of a ship in 



24 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

port after a long voyage. From the outmost end of the longest wharf 
the relatives and friends of the sailors eagerly watch the approaching 
vessel, striving to find in her appearance some token of the safety of, 
the loved ones on board. If a flag hangs at half-mast in the rigging, 
bitter is the suspense, and fearful the dread, of each anxious waiter, lest 
her husband or lover or son be the unfortunate one whose death is 
mourned. And on the deck of the ship the excitement is no less great. 
Even the hardened breast of the sailor swells with emotion when he 
first catches sight of his native town, after long months of absence. 
With eyes sharpened by constant searching for objects upon the broad 
bosom of the ocean, he scans the waiting crowd, striving to distinguish 
in the distance some well-beloved face. His spirits are light with the 
happy anticipation of a season in port with his loved ones, and he 
discharges his last duties before leaving the ship with a blithe heart. 

So it was with the crew of the home-coming brig. Right merrily 
they sung out their choruses as they pulled at the ropes, and brought 
the vessel to anchor. The rumble of the hawser through the hawse- 
holes was sweet music to their ears ; and so intent were they upon the 
crowd on the dock, that they did not notice two long-boats which had 
put off from the man-of-war, and were pulling for the brig. The captain 
of the merchantman, however, noticed the approach of the boats, and 
wondered what it meant. " Those fellows think I've smuggled goods 
aboard," said he. " However, they can spend their time searching if 
they want. I've nothing in the hold I'm afraid to have seen." 

The boats were soon alongside ; and two or three officers, with a 
handful of jackies, clambered aboard the brig. 

" Muster your men aft, captain," said the leader, scorning any response 
to the captain's salutation. " The king has need of a tew fine fellows 
for his service." 

" Surely, sir, you are not about to press any of these men," protested 
the captain. "They are just returning after a long voyage, and have 
not yet seen their families." 

" What's that to me, sir .-' " was the response. " Muster your crew 
without more words." 

Sullenly the men came aft, and ranged themselves in line before the 
boarding-officers. Each feared lest he might be one of those chosen to 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 25 

fill the ship's roll of the " Maidstone ; " yet each cherished the hope that 
he might be spared to go ashore, and see the loved ones whose greeting he 
had so fondly anticipated. 

The boarding-officers looked the crew over, and, after consulting 
together, gruffly ordered the men to go below, and pack up their traps. 

"Surely you don't propose to take my entire crew.'" said the 
captain of the brig in wondering indignation. - 

"I know my business, sir," was the gruff reply, "and I do not propose 
to suffer any more interference." 

The crew of the brig soon came on deck, carrying their bags of 
clothes, and were ordered into the man-o'-war's boats, which speedily 
conveyed them to their floating prison. Their fond visions of home had 
been rudely dispelled. They were now enrolled in his Majesty's service, 
and subject to the will of a blue-coated tyrant. This was all their 
welcome home. 

When the news of this cruel outrage reached the shore, the indignation 
of the people knew no bounds. The thought of their fellow-townsmei 
thus cruelly deprived of their liberty, at the conclusion of a long and 
perilous voyage, set the whole village in a turmoil. Wild plots were 
concocted for the destruction of the man-of-war, that, sullen and 'unyielding, 
lay at her anchorage in the harbor. But the wrong done was beyond 
redress. The captured men were not to be liberated. There was no 
ordnance in the little town to compete with the guns of the " Maidstone," 
and the enraged citizens could only vent their anger by impotent threats 
and curses. Bands of angry men and boys paraded the streets, crying, 
' Down with the press-gang," and invoking the vengeance of Heaven 
upon the officers of the man-of-war. Finally, they found a boat belonging 
to the " Maidstone " lying at a wharf. Dragging this ashore, the crowd 
procured ropes, and, after pulling the captured trophy up and down the 
streets, took it to the common in front of the Court-House, where it was 
burned in the presence of a great crowd, which heaped execrations upon the 
heads of the officers of the "Maidstone," and King George's press-gang. 

After this occurrence, there was a long truce between the people of 
Newport and the officers of the British navy. But the little town was 
intolerant of oppression, and the revolutionary spirit broke out again 
in 1769. Historians have eulogized Boston as the cradle of liberty, and 



26 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

by the British pamphleteers of that era the Massachusetts city was often 
called a hot-bed of rebellion. It would appear, however, that, while 
the people of Boston were resting contentedly under the king's rule, the 
citizens of Newport were chafing under the yoke, and were quick to 
resist any attempts at tyranny. 

It is noticeable, that, in each outbreak of the people of Newport 
against the authority of the king's vessels, the vigor of the resistance 
increased, and their acts of retaliation became bolder. Thus in the affair 
of the "St. John" the king's vessel was fired on, while in the affair of 
the "Maidstone" the royal property was actually destroyed. In the later 
affairs with the sloop " Liberty " and the schooner " Gaspee," the revolt 
of the colonists was still more open, and the consequences more serious. 

In 1769 the armed sloop "Liberty," Capt. Reid, was stationed in 
Narragansett Bay for the purpose of enforcing the revenue laws. Her 
errand made her obno.xious to the people on the coast, and the extraordinary 
zeal of her captain in discharging his duty made her doubly detested by 
seafaring people afloat or shore. 

On the 17th of July the "Liberty," while cruising near the mouth 
of the bay, sighted a sloop and a brig under full sail, bound out. Promptly 
giving chfse, the armed vessel soon overtook the merchantmen sufficiently 
to send a shot skipping along the crests of the waves, as a polite 
ivitation to stop. The two vessels hove to, and a boat was sent 
trom the man-of-war to examine their papers, and see if all was right. 
Though no flaw was found in the papers of either vessel, Capt. Reid 
determined to take them back to Newport, which was done. In the harbor 
the two vessels were brought to anchor under the guns of the armed 
sloop, and without any reason or explanation were kept there several 
days. After submitting to this wanton detention for two days, Capt. 
Packwood of the brig went on board the " Liberty " to make a protest 
to Capt. Reid, and at the same time to get some wearing apparel taken 
from his cabin at the time his vessel had been captured. On reaching 
the deck of the armed vessel, he found Capt. Reid absent, and his request 
for his property was received with ridicule. Hot words soon led to 
violence ; and as Capt. Packwood stepped in to his boat to return to hi? 
ship, he was fired at several times, none of the shots taking effect. 

The news of this assault spread like wildfire in the little town. The 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 2^ 

people congregated on the streets, demanding reparation. The authorities 
sent a message to Capt. Reid, demanding that the man who fired the 
shots be given up. Soon a boat came from the "Liberty," bringing a 
man who was handed over to the authorities as the culprit. A brief 
examination into the case showed that the rhan was not the guilty 
party, and that his surrender was a mere subterfuge. The people then 
determined to be trifled with no longer, and made preparations to take 
vengeance upon the insolent oppressors. 

The work of preparation went on quietly ; and by nightfall a large 
number of men had agreed to assemble at a given signal, and march 
upon the enemy. Neither the authorities of the town nor the officers 
on the threatened vessel were given any intimation of the impending 
outbreak. Yet the knots of men who stood talking earnestly on the 
street corners, or looked significantly at the trim navy vessel lying in 
the harbor, might have well given cause for suspicion. 

That night, just as the dusk was deepening into dark, a crowd of 
men marched down the street to a spot where a number of boats lav 
hidden in the shadow of a wharf. Embarking in these silently, the> 
bent to the oars at the whispered word of command ; and the boats were 
soon gliding swiftly over the smooth, dark surface of the harbor, toward 
the sloop-of-war. As they drew near, the cry of the lookout rang out, — 

"Boat ahoy ! " 

No answer. The boats, crowded with armed men, still advanced. 

"Boat ahoy! Answer, or I'll fire." 

And, receiving no response, the lookout gave the alarm, and the 
watch came tumbling up, just in time to be driven below or disarmed 
by the crowd of armed men that swarmed over the gunwale of the 
vessel. There was no bloodshed. The crew of the "Liberty" was fairly 
surprised, and made no resistance. The victorious citizens cut the 
sloop's cables, and allowed her to float on shore near Long Wharf. 
Then, feeling sure that their prey could not escape them, they cut away 
her mast.s, liberated their captives, and taking the sloop's boats, dragged 
them through the streets to the common, where they were burned on a 
triumphal bonfire, amid the cheers of the populace. 

But the exploit was not to end here. With the high tide the next 
day, the hulk of the sloop floated away, and drifted ashore again on 



28 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



Goat Island. When night fell, some adventurous spirits stealthily went 
over, and, applying the torch to the stranded ship, burned it to the 
water's edge. Thus did the people of Newport resist t)-ranny. 

It may well be imagined that so bold a defiance of the royal 
authority caused a great sensation. Prolonged and vigorous were the 
attempts of the servants of the king to find out the rebellious parties 
who had thus destroyed his Majesty's property. But their efforts were 
in vain. The identity of the captors of the " Liberty " was carefully 
concealed, and even to this day none of their names has become known. 
But, before the people of Newport had done talking about this affair, 
another outbreak occurred, which cast the capture and destruction of 
the " Liberty " into the shade. 

This was the affair of the " GaspcQ," — considered by many historians 
the virtual opening of the revolutionary struggle of the Colonies against 
Great Britain. The "Gaspee," like the "St. John" and the "Liberty," 
was an armed vessel stationed in Narragansett Bay to enforce the 
evenue. She was commanded by Lieut. Dudingston of the British 
ivy, and carried eight guns. By pursuing the usual tactics of the 
British officers stationed on the American coast, Duddingston had made 
himself hated ; and his vessel was marked for destruction. Not a boat 
could pass between Providence and Newport without being subjected to 
search by the crew of the " Gaspee ; " and the Yankee sailors swore 
darkly, that, when the time was ripe, they would put an end to the 
Britisher's officious meddling. 

The propitious time arrived one bright June morning in the yeat 
1772, when the "Gaspee" gave chase to a Newport packet which was 
scudding for Providence, under the command of Capt. Thomas Lindsey. 
The armed vessel was a clean-cut little craft, and, carrying no heavier 
load than a few light guns of the calibre then in vogue, could overhaul 
with ease almost any merchantman on the coast. So on this eventful 
day she was rapidly overhauling the chase, when, by a blunder of the 
pilot, she was run hard and fast upon a spit of sand running out from 
Namquit Point, and thus saw her projected prize sail away in triumph. 

But the escape of her prize was not the greatest disaster that was 
to befall the "Gaspee" that day. Lindsey, finding himself safe from 
the clutches of the enemy, continued his course to Providence, and on 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '^6. 29 

arriving at that city reported the condition of the " Gaspee " to a 
prominent citizen, who straightway determined to organize an expedition 
f(ir the destruction of tlic pest of marine traffic. He therefore gave 
orders to a trusty ship-master to collect eight of the largest long-boats 
in the harbor, and, having nuifTled their oars and rowlocks, place them 
at Fenner's Wharf, near a noted tavern. 

That night, soon after sunset, as the tradesmen were shutting up 
tlicir shops, and the laboring men were standing on the streets talking 
after their day's work, a man passed down the middle of each street, 
beating a drum, and crying aloud, — 

" The schooner ' Gaspee ' is ashore on Namquit Point. Who will 
help destroy her .'" 

All who expressed a desire to join in the enterprise were directed to 
repair to the Sabin House ; and thither, later in the evening, flocked 
many of the townspeople, carrying guns, powder-flasks, and bullet-pouches. 
Within the house all was life and bustle. The great hall was crowded 
with determined men, discussing the plan of attack. Guns stood in 
every corner, while down in the kitchen a half a dozen men stood about 
a glowing fire busily casting bullets. At last, all being prepared, the 
party crossed the street to the dock, and embarked, — a veteran sea-captain 
taking the tiller of each boat. 

On the way down the harbor the boats stopped, and took aboard 
a number of paving-stones and stout clubs, as weapons for those who 
had no muskets. After this stoppage the boats continued on their way, 
until, when within sixty yards of the " Gaspee," the long-drawn hail, 
" Who comes there ? " rang out over the water. No answer was made, 
and the lookout quickly repeated his hail. Capt. Whipple, one of the 
leaders of the attack, then responded, — 

" I want to come on board." 

Dudingston, who was below at the time, rushed on deck, exclaiming, 
"Standoff. You can't come aboard." 

As Dudingston stood at the side of the " Gaspee " warning off the 
assailants, he presented a good mark ; and Joseph Bucklin, who pulled an 
oar in the leading boat, turned to a comrade and said, " Ephe, lend me 
)our gun, and I can kill that fellow." The gun was accordingly handed 
him, and he fired. Dudingston fell to the deck. Just as the shot was 



30 BLUIWACKETS OF '76. 



fired, the leader of the assailants cried out, — 

"I am sheriff of the county of Kent. I am come for the commander of 
this vessel ; and have him I will, dead or alive. Men, spring to your oars." 

In an instant the boats were under the lee of the schooner, and the 
attacking party was clambering over the side. The first man to attempt 
to board seized a rope, and was clambering up, when one of the British 
cut the rope, and let him fall into the water. He quickly recovered 
himself, and was soon on deck, where he found his comrades driving the 
crew of the " Gaspee " below, and meeting with but little resistance. 

A surgeon who was with the party of Americans led the boarders 
below, and began the task of tying the hands of the captured crew with 
strong tarred cord. While thus engaged, he was called on deck. 

"What is wanted, Mr. Brown.'" asked he, calling the name of the 
person inquiring for him. 

" Don't call names, but go immediately into the cabin," was the 
response. "There is one wounded, and will bleed to death." 

The surgeon went into the captain's cabin, and there found Dudingston, 
severely wounded, and bleeding freely. Seeing no cloth suitable for 
bandages, the surgeon opened his vest, and began to tear his own shirt 
into strips to bind up the wound. With the tenderest care the hurt 
of the injured oiTficer was attended to ; and he was gently lowered into 
a boat, and rowed up the river to Providence. 

The Americans remained in possession of the captured schooner, and 
quickly began the work of demolition. In the captain's cabin were 
a number of bottles of liquor, and for these the men made a rush ; but 
the American surgeon dashed the bottles to pieces with the heels of his 
heavy boots, so that no scenes of drunkenness were enacted. After 
breaking up the furniture and trappings of the craft, her people were 
bundled over the side into the boats of their captors, and the torch was 
set to the schooner. The boats lay off a little distance until the roaring 
flames satisfied them that the "Gaspee" would never again annoy 
American merchantmen, As the schooner's shotted guns went off one 
after the other, the Americans turned their boats' prows homeward, and 
soon dispersed quietly to their homes. 

It is almost incredible that the identity of the parties to this 
expedition was kept a secret until long after the Revolution. Although 



BLUE-JACKHl'S OF '76. 3I 

the British authorities made the most strenuous efforts, and offered huge 
rewards for the detection of the culprits, not one was discovered until 
after the Colonies had thrown off the royal yoke, when they came boldly 
forward, and boasted of their exploit. 

After the destruction of the " Gaspee," the colonists in no way openly 
opposed the authority of the king, until the time of those stirring events 
immediately preceding the American Revolution. Little was done on 
the water to betoken the hatred of the colonists for King George. The 
turbulent little towns of Providence and Newport subsided, and the scene 
of revolt was transferred to Massachusetts, and particularly to Boston. 
In the streets of Boston occurred the famous massacre, and at the 
wharves of Boston lay the three ships whose cargo aroused the ire of 
the famous Boston tea-party. 

To almost every young American the story of the Boston tea-party 
is as familiar as his own name, — how the British Parliament levied a tax 
upon tea, how the Colonies refused to pay it, and determined to use none 
of the article ; how British merchants strove to force the tea upon the 
unwilling colonists, and how the latter refused to permit the vessels to 
unload, and in some cases drove them back to England. At Philadelphia, 
Annapolis, Charleston, Newport, and Providence, disturbances took place 
over the arrival of the tea-ships ; but at Boston the turbulence was the 
greatest. 

The story of that dramatic scene in the great drama of American 
revolution has been told too often to bear repetition. The arrival of 
three ships laden with tea aroused instant indignation in the New England 
city. Mass meetings were held, the captains of the vessels warned not 
to attempt to unload their cargoes, and the consignees were terrified 
into refusing to have any thing to do with the tea. 

In the midst of an indignation meeting held at the Old South Church, 
a shrill war-whoop resounded from one of the galleries. The startled 
audience, looking in that direction, saw a person disguised as a Mohawk 
Indian, who wildly waved his arms and shouted, — 

"Boston Harbor a tea-pot to-night! Hurrah for Grififin's Wharf." 

In wild excitement the meeting adjourned, and the people crowded 
out inl.(j the streets. Other Indians were seen running down the streets 
in the direction of Griffin's Wharf, where the tea-ships were moored, and 
thither the people turned their steps. 



32 BLUE-JACKE'I'S OF '76. 



On reaching the wharf, a scene of wild confusion was witnessed. The 
three tea-ships lay side by side at the wharf. Their decks were crowded 
with men, many of them wearing the Indian disguise. The hatches were 
off the hatchways ; and the chests of tea were being rapidly passed up, 
broken open, and thrown overboard. There was little noise, as the 
workers seemed to be well disciplined, and went about their work in 
the bright moonlight with systematic activity. In about three hours the 
work was done. Three hundred and forty-two chests of tea had been 
thrown overboard, and the rioters dispersed quietly to their homes. 

The incident of the destruction of the tea in Boston Harbor was the last 
of the petty incidents that led up to the American Revolution. Following 
quick upon it came Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill, — then the 
great conflict was fairly under way, and the Colonies were fighting for 
liberty. What part the sailors of the colonies took in that struggle, it is 
the purpose of this book to recount. 





CHAPTER IV. 



THE BEGINNING OF THE NAVY. — LEXINGTON 
AND CONCORD. — A BLOW STRUCK IN MAINE. 
— CAPTURE OF THE " MARGARETTA." — GEN. 

WASHINGTON AND THE NAVY.— WORK OF 
CAPT. MANLY. 




N TREATING of the history of the navy during the war of the 
Revolution, we mu.st always bear in mind the fact, that, during 
the greater part of that war, there was no navy. Indeed, the 
subject presents much the same aspect as the celebrated chapter 
on snakes in Ireland, which consisted of exactly si.x words, "There are no 
snakes in Ireland." So many of the episodes and incidents of the 
Revolutionary war that wc chronicle as part of the naval history of that 
struggle are naval only in that they took place on the water. The 
participants in them were often longshoremen, fishermen, or privateers- 
men, and but seldom sailors enrolled in the regular navy of the united 
colonies. Nevertheless, these irregular forces accomplished some results 
that would be creditable to a navy in the highest state of efficiency and 
discipline. 

The expense of building vessels-of-war, and the difficulty, amounting 
even to impossibility, of procuring cannon for their armament, deterred 
the Colonies from equipping a naval force. All the energies of the revolu- 
tionists were directed towards organizing and equipping the army. The 
cause of independence upon the ocean was left to shift for itself. But, as 
the war spread, the depredations of British vessels along the coast became 
so intolerable that some colonies fitted out armed vessels for self-protection. 
Private enterprise sent out many privateers to prey upon British commerce, 

33 



34 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



so that the opening months of the year 1776 saw many vessels on the 
ocean to support the cause of the Colonies. To man these vessels, there 
were plenty of sailors ; for even at that early day New England had 
begun to develop that race of hardy seamen for which she is still noted 
in this day of decadence in the American marine. There was, however, 
a sad lack of trained ofificers to command the vessels of the infant navy. 
Many Americans were enrolled on the lists of the ships flying the royal 
banner of England, but most of these remained in the British service. 
The men, therefore, who were to command the ships of the colonies, were 
trained in the rough school of the merchant service, and had smelt gun- 
powder only when resisting piratical attacks, or in serving themselves as 
privateers. 

For these reasons the encounters and exploits that we shall consider 
as being part of the naval operations of the Revolutionary war were of 
a kind that would to-day be regarded as insignificant skirmishes ; and the 
naval officer of to-day would look with supreme contempt upon most of 
his brethren of '"](>, as so many untrained sea-guerillas. Nevertheless, 
the achievements of some of the seamen of the Revolution are not 
insignificant, even when compared with exploits of the era of Farragut ; 
and it must b.c remembered that the efforts of the devoted men were 
directed against a nation that had in commission at the opening of the 
war three hundred and fifty-three vessels, and even then bore proudly 
the title conferred upon her by the consent of all nations, — "The Mistress 
of the Seas." 

It was on the 19th of April, 1775, that the redoubtable Major Pitcairn 
and his corps of scarlet-coated British regulars shot down the colonists 
on the green at Lexington, and then fled back to Boston followed by the 
enraged minute-men, who harassed the retreating red-coats with a constant 
fire of musketry. The news of the battle spread far and wide ; and 
wherever the story was told, the colonists began arming themselves, 
and preparing for resistance to the continually increasing despotism of the 
British authorities. 

On the 9th of May, a coasting schooner from Boston put into the 
little seaport of Machias on the coast of Maine. The people of the little 
town gathered at the wharf, and from the sailors first heard the story of 
Lexington and Concord. The yoke of the British Government had rested 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. " 35 

lightly on the shoulders of the people of Machias. Far from the chief 
cities of the New World, they had heard little of the continued dissensions 
between the Colonies and the home Government, and they heard the story 
of the rebellion with amazement. But however unprepared they might 
ha\e been for the news of the outbreak, their sympathies went warmly 
out to their struggling brethren, and they determined to place them- 
selves shoulder to shoulder with the Massachusetts colonists in the fight 
against the oppression of the British. Their opportunity for action came 
that very night. 

As the sturdy young colonists stood on the deck listening to the 
stories of the newly arrived sailors, they could see floating lightly at 
anchor near the wharf a trimly rigged schooner flying the ensign of the 
British navy. This craft was the " Margaretta," an armed schooner acting 
as convoy to two sloops that were then loading with ship-timber to be used 
in the service of the king. 

The Boston sailors had not yet finished their narrative of the two 
battles, when the thought occurred to some of the adventurous listeners 
that they might strike a retaliatory blow by capturing the " Margaretta." 
Therefore, bidding the sailors to say nothing to the British of Lexington 
and Concord, they left the wharf and dispersed through the town, seeking 
for recruits. That same evening, si.xty stalwart men assembled in a 
secluded farm-house, and laid their plans for the destruction of the 
schooner. It was then Saturday night, and the conspirators determined 
to attack the vessel the ne.xt morning while the officers were at church. 
All were to proceed by twos and threes to the wharf, in order that no 
suspicion might be aroused. Once at the water-side, they would rush to 
their boats, and carry the schooner by boarding. 

Sunday morning dawned clear, and all seemed propitious for the 
conspirators. The " Margaretta " had then been in port for more than a 
Week, and her officers had no reason to doubt the loyalty and friendship of 
the inhabilants : no whisper of the occurrences in Massachusetts, nor 
any hint of the purposes of the people of Machias, had reached their 
ears. Therefore, on this peaceful May morning, Capt. Moore donned his 
full-dress uniform, and with his brother officers proceeded to the little 
church in the village. 

Every thing then seemed favorable to the success of the adventure. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



The " Margaretta," manned by a sleepy crew, and deserted by her officers, 
lay within easy distance of the shore. It seemed as though the conspirators 
had only to divide into two parties ; and while the one surrounded the 
church, and captured the worshipping officers, the others might descend 
upon the schooner, and easily make themselves masters of all. 

But the plot failed. History fails to record just how or why the 
suspicions of Capt. Moore were aroused. Whether it w^as that the wary 
captain noticed the absence of most of the young men of the congregation, 
or whether he saw the conspirators assembling on the dock, is not known. 
But certain it is that the good dominie in the pulpit, and the pious people 
in the pews, were mightily startled by the sudden uprisal of Capt. Moore, 
who sprang from his seat, and, calling upon his officers to follow him, leaped 
through the great window of the church, and ran like mad for the shore, 
followed by the rest of the naval party. 

There was no more church for the good people of Machias that 
morning. Even the preacher came down from his pulpit to stare 
through his horn-rimmed glasses at the retreating forms of his whilom 
listeners. And, as he stood in blank amazement at the church door, he 
saw a large party of the missing young men of his congregation come 
dashing down the street in hot pursuit of the retreating mariners. In 
their hands, the pursuers carried sabres, cutlasses, old ilint-lock muskets, 
cumbrous horse-pistols, scythes, and reaping-hooks. The pursued wore 
no arms ; and, as no boat awaited them at the shore, their case looked 
hopeless indeed. But the old salt left in charge of the schooner was 
equal to the occasion. The unsabbath-like tumult on the shore quickly 
attracted his attention, and with unfeigned astonishment he had observed 
his commander's unseemly egress from the church. But, when the armed 
band of colonists appeared upon the scene, he ceased to rub his eyes in 
wonder, and quickly loaded up a swivel gun, with w^hich he let {\y, over 
the heads of his officers, and in dangerous pro.ximity to the advancing 
colonists. This fire checked the advance of the conspirators ; and, while 
they wavered and hung back, a boat put off from the schooner, and soon 
took the officers aboard. Then, after firing a few solid shot over the 
town, merely as an admonition of what might be expected if the hot 
headed young men persisted in their violent outbreaks, the "Margaretta" 
dropped down the bay to a more secluded anchorage. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. Z1 

The defeated conspirators were vastly chagrined at the miscarriage of 
their plot ; but, nothing daunted, they resolved to attempt to carry the 
schooner by assault, since strategy had failed. Therefore, early the next 
morning, four young men seized upon a sloop, and, bringing her up to 
the wharf, cheered lustily. A crowd soon gathered, and the project was 
explained, and volunteers called for. Thirty-five hardy sailors and wood- 
men hastily armed themselves with muskets, pitchforks, and axes ; and, 
after taking aboard a small supply of provisions, the sloop dropped down 
the harbor toward the " Margaretta." The captain of the threatened 
schooner had observed through his spy-glass the proceedings at the 
wharf, and suspected his danger. He was utterly ignorant of the reason 
for this sudden hostility on the part of the people of Machias. He 
knew nothing of the quarrel that had thus provoked the rebellion of the 
colonies. Therefore, he sought to avoid a conflict ; and, upon the approach 
of the sloop, he hoisted his anchor, and fled down the bay. 

The sloop followed in hot haste. The Yankees crowded forward, and 
shouted taunts and jeers at their more powerful enemy who thus strove 
to avoid the conflict. Both vessels were under full sail ; and the size of 
the schooner was beginning to tell, when, in jibing, she carried away her 
main boom. Nevertheless, she was so far ahead of the sloop that she 
was able to put into Holmes Bay, and take a spar out of a vessel 
lying there, before the sloop overtook her. But the delay incident upon 
changing the spars brought the sloop within range ; and Capt. Moore, still 
anxious to avoid an encounter, cut away his boats, and stood out to sea. 
With plenty of sea room, and with a spanking breeze on the quarter, 
the sloop proved to be the better sailer. Moore then prepared for battle, 
and, as the sloop overhauled him, let fly one of his swivels, following it 
immediately with his whole broadside, killing one man. The sloop 
returned the fire with her one jMCce of ordnance, which was so well 
aimed as to kill the man at the helm of the " Margaretta," and clear 
her quarter-deck. The two vessels then closed, and a hand-to-hand 
battle began, in which muskets, hand-grenades, pikes, pitchforks, and 
cutlasses were used with deadly effect. The colonists strove to board 
their enemy, but were repeatedly beaten back. If any had thought that 
Capt. Moore's continued efforts to avoid a conflict were signs of coward- 
ice, they were quickly undeceived ; for that officer fought like a tiger, 



38 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



standing on the quarter-deck rail, cheering on his men, and hurling hand- 
grenades down upon his assailants, until a shot brought him down. The 
fall of their captain disheartened the British ; and the Americans quickly 
swarmed over the sides of the " Margaretta," and drove her crew below. 

This victory was no mean achievement for the colonists. The 
"Margaretta" was vastly the superior, both in metal and in the strength 
of her crew. She was ably officered by trained and courageous seamen ; 
while the Yankees had no leaders save one Jeremiah O'Brien, whom they 
had elected, by acclamation, captain. That the Americans had so quickly 
brought their more powerful foe to terms, spoke volumes for their pluck 
and determination. Nor were they content to rest with the capture of 
the schooner. Transferring her armament to the sloop, O'Brien set out 
in search of prizes, and soon fell in with, and captured, two small 
British cruisers. These he took to Watertown, where the Massachusetts 
Legislature was then in session. The news of his victory was received 
with vast enthusiasm ; and the Legislature conferred upon him the rank 
of captain, and ordered him to set out on another cruise, and particularly 
watch out for British vessels bringing over provisions or munitions of 
war to the king's troops in America. 

But by this time Great Britain was aroused. The king saw all 
America up in arms against his authority, and he determined to punish 
the rebellious colonists. A naval expedition was therefore sent against 
Falmouth, and that unfortunate town was given to the flames. The 
Legislature of Massachusetts then passed a law granting commissions to 
privateers, and directing the seizure of British ships. Thereafter the 
hostilities on the ocean, which had been previously unauthorized and 
somewhat piratical, had the stamp of legislative authority. 

Petty hostilities along the coast were very active during the first few 
months of the war. The exploits of Capt. O'Brien stirred up seamen 
from Maine to the Carolinas, and luckless indeed was the British vessel 
that fell into their clutches. At Providence two armed American vessels 
re-took a Yankee brig and sloop that had been captured by the British. 
At Dartmouth a party of soldiers captured a British armed brig. In addition 
to these exploits, the success of the American privateers, which had got to 
sea in great numbers, added greatly to the credit of the American cause. 

The first order looking toward the establishment of a national navy 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 39 

was given by Gen. Washington in the latter part of 1775. The sagacious 
general, knowing that the British forces in Boston were supplied with 
provisions and munitions of war by sea, conceived the idea of fitting 
out some swift-sailing cruisers to intercept the enemy's cruisers, and cut 
off their supplies. Accordingly, on his own authority, he sent out 
Capt. Broughton wi-th two armed schooners belonging to the colony of 
Massachusetts. Broughton was ordered to intercept two brigs bound 
for Quebec with military stores. This he failed to do, but brought in 
ten other vessels. Congress, however, directed the release of the 
captured ships, as it was then intended only to take such vessels as wertf 
actually employed in the king's service. 

By this time Congress had become convinced that some naval force 
was absolutely essential to the success of the American cause. In 
October, 1775, it therefore fitted out, and ordered to sea, a number of 
small vessels. Of these the first to sail was the " Lee," under command 
of Capt. John Manly, whose honorable name, won in the opening years of 
the Revolution, fairly entitles him to the station of the father of the 
American navy. 

With his swift cruiser, Manly patrolled the New England coast, and 
was marvellously successful in capturing British store-ships. Washington 
wrote to Congress, " I am in very great want of powder, lead, mortars, 
and, indeed, most sorts of military stores." Hardly had the letter been 
forwarded, when Manly appeared in port with a prize heavy laden with 
just the goods for which the commander-in-chief had applied. A queer 
coincidence is on record regarding these captured stores. Samuel Tucker, 
an able Yankee seaman, later an officer in the American navy, was on 
the docks at Liverpool as a transport was loading for America. As he 
saw 'the great cases of guns and barrels of powder marked " Boston " being 
lowered into the hold of the vessel, he said to a friend who stood with 
him, " I would walk barefoot one hundred miles, if by that means these 
arms could only take the direction of Cambridge." Three months later 
Tucker was in Washington's camp at Cambridge, and there saw the very 
arms he had so coveted on the Liverpool docks. They had been captured 
by Capt. Manly. 

Manly's activity proved very harassing to the British, and the sloop- 
of-war " Falcon " was sent out to ca[)ture the Yankee. She fell in with 



40 • BLUE-JACKETS OF 76. 



the " Lee " near Gloucester, just as the latter was making for that port 
with a merchant schooner in convoy. Manly, seeing that the Englishman 
was too heavy for him, deserted his convoy and ran into the port, where 
he anchored, out of reach of the sloop's guns. Capt. Lindzee of the 
" Falcon " stopped to capture the abandoned schooner, and then taking 
his vessel to the mouth of the port, anchored her in such a way as to 
prevent any escape for the " Lee." He then prepared to capture the 
Yankee by boarding. The " Falcon " drew too much water to run 
alongside the " Lee " at the anchorage Manly had chosen ; and the English- 
man therefore put his men in large barges, and with a force of about 
forty men set out to capture the schooner. Manly saw the force that 
was to be brought against him, and sent his men to quarters, preparing 
for a desperate resistance. The schooner was lying near the shore ; and 
the townspeople and militia gathered by the water-side, with guns in their 
hands, prepared to lend their aid to the brave defenders of the " Lee." 
\s the three barges drew near the schooner, Manly mounted the rail, and 
I'led them, warning them to keep off lest he fire upon them. 

" Fire, and be hanged to you," was the response of the lieutenant in 
command of the assailants. "We have no fear of traitors." 

So saying, the British pressed on through a fierce storm of musketry 
from the deck of the schooner and from the shore. They showed no 
lack of courage. The lieutenant himself brought his boat under the 
cabin windows, and was in the act of boarding, when a shot from the shore 
struck him in the thigh, and he was carried back to the man-of-war. Capt. 
Lindzee, who had watched the progress of the fight from the deck of the 
" Falcon," was greatly enraged when his lieutenant was thus disabled ; 
and he hastily despatched re-enforcements to the scene of action, and 
directed the gunners on the "Falcon" to commence a cannonade of the 
town. 

" Now," said he with an oath, " my boys, we will aim at the Presbyterian 
church. Well, my brave fellows, one shot more, and the house of God 
will fall before you." 

But the British were fairly outfought, and the outcome of the battle 
was disastrous to them. A newspaper of the period, speaking of the 
fight says, " Under God, our little party at the waterside performed 
wonders ; for they soon made themselves masters of both the schooners. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 4I 

the cutter, the two barges, the boat, and' every man in them, and all that 
pertained to them. In the action, which lasted several hours, we have 
lost but one man ; two others wounded, — one of whom is since dead, the 
other very slightly wounded. We took of the man-of-war's men thirty-five ; 
several are wounded, and one since dead ; twenty-four are sent to head- 
quarters. The remainder, being impressed from this and neighboring 
towns, are permitted to return to their friends. This morning Capt. 
Lindzee warped off with but one-half of his men, with neither a prize-boat 
nor tender, except a small skiff the wounded lieutenant returned in." 

The work done by the small armed schooners of which the "Lee" was 
a type encouraged Congress to proceed with the work of organizing a 
regular navy; and by the end of 1775 that body had authorized the 
building of thirteen war-vessels carrying from twenty-four to thirty-two 
guns each. But as some naval force was obviously necessary during 
the construction of this fleet, five vessels were procured, and the new 
lavy was organized with the following roster of officers : — 

EsEK Hopkins Commander-in-chief. 

Dudley Saltonstall Captain of the "Alfred." 

Abrahaji Whipple Captain of the " Columbus." 

NiCH0L.\s BiDDLE Captain of tlu " Andrea Doria" 

John B. Hopkl^S Captain of the " Cabot." 

A long list of lieutenants was also provided, among whom stands out 
boldly the name of John Paul Jones. John Manly, whose dashing work 
in the shooner " Lee " we have already noticed, was left in command 
of his little craft until the thirty-two-gun ship "Hancock" was com- 
pleted, when he was put in charge of her. 

It may possibly have occurred to some of my readers to wonder 
what flag floated from the mastheads of these ships. There is much 
confusion upon this point, and not a little uncertainty. There were 
three classes of American armed vessels on the seas. First were 
the privateers, that sailed under any flag that might suit their jHirpose. 
Next came the vessels fitted out and commissioned by the individual 
colonies ; these usually floated the flag of the colony from which they 
hailed Last came the vessels commissioned by Congress, which at 
the outset floated many banners of diverse kinds. It fell to the lot 



42 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



of Lieut. Paul Jones, however, to hoist the first authorized American 
flag over a regularly commissioned vcssel-of-\var. This flag was of 
bunting, showing a pine-tree on a plain white ground, with the words 
" Liberty Tree " and " Appeal to God " prominently displayed. This flag 
was chiefly used until the adoption of the stars and stripes. The 
" rattlesnake flag," with a reptile in the act of striking, and the legend 
" Don't tread on me," was largely used by the privateers. 

The year 1775 closed with but little activity upon the ocean. The 
ships of the regular navy were late in getting into commission, and an 
early winter impeded their usefulness. Some little work \wa.s done by 
privateers and the ships of the different colonies, and the ships of the 
British navy were kept fully occupied in guarding against the operations 
of these gentry. The man-of-war " Nautilus " chased an American 
privateer into a little cove near Beverly, and in the heat of the chase 
both vessels ran aground. The people on shore put off to the priva- 
teer, and quickly stripped her of her cordage and armament, and with 
the guns built a small battery by the water-side, from which they opened 
a telling fire upon the stranded "Nautilus." The man-of-war returned 
in kind, and did some slight damage to the town ; but when the tide 
had risen she slipped her cables and departed. Such desultory encounters 
were of frequent occurrence, but no naval battles of any importance 
took place until the spring of 1776. 





COMMODORE KSEK HOPKINS 




CHAPTER V. 



EVENTS OF 1776.— THE FIRST CRUISE OF THE REGULAR N'AVV.— THE " LEXINGTON" AND THE 
"EDWARD."— MUCFORD'S BRAVE FIGHT. — LOSS OF THE "YANKEE HERO."— CAPT. MANI.V, 
AND THE "DEFENCE."— AMERICAN VESSELS IN EUROPEAN WATERS. - GOOD WORK OF 
THE "LEXINGTON" AND THE " REPRISAL." — THE BRITISH DEFEATED AT CHARLESTON. 




HE year 1-776 witnessed some good service done for the catise 
of liberty by the little colonial navy. The squadron, under the 
command of Ezekiel Hopkins, left tiie Delaware in February, 
as soon as the ice had left the river, and made a descent upon 
the island of New Providence, where the British had established a naval 
station. The force under Hopkins consisted of seven vesscls-of-war, and 
one despatch-boat. The attack was successful in every way, a landuii^ 
party of three hundred marines and sailors which was sent ashore 
meeting with but little resistance from the British garrison. By this 
exploit, the Americans captured over a hundred cannon, and a great 
quantity of naval stores. 

After this exploit, Hopkins left New Providence, carrying away with 
him the governor and one or two notable citizens, and continueil his 
•^ 43 



44 BLUE-jAcKdS OF '76. 

cruise. His course was shaped to the northward, and early in April he 
found himself off the shore of Long Island. He had picked up a couple 
of insignificant British vessels, — one a tender of six guns, and the other 
an eight-gun bomb-brig. But his cruise had been mainly barren of results ; 
and his crew, who had looked forward to sharp service and plenty of prize- 
money, were beginning to grumble. But their inactivity was not of long 
duration ; for, before daylight on the morning of April 6, the lookout 
at the masthead of the "Alfred" sighted a large ship, bearing down upon 
the American squadron. The night was clear and beautiful, the wind 
light, and the sea smooth ; and so, although it lacked several hours to 
daylight, the commanders determined to give battle to the stranger. 
Soon, therefore, the roll of the drums beating to quarters was heard 
over the water, and the angry glare of the battle lanterns on the gun- 
decks made the open ports of the war-ships stand out like fiery eyes 
against the black hulls. The Englishman, who proved later to be the 
"Glasgow," twenty guns, carrying one hundred and fifty men, might 
easily have escaped ; but, apparently undaunted by the odds against him, 
he awaited the attack. The little " Cabot " was the first American ship 
to open fire on the enemy. Her attack, though sharp and plucky, was 
injudicious; for two of the Englishman's heavy broadsides were enough 
to send her out of the battle for repairs. The "Glasgow" and the 
"Alfred" then took up the fight, and exchanged repeated broadsides; 
the American vessel suffering the more serious injuries of the two. 
After some hours of this fighting, the " Glasgow " hauled away, and 
made good her escape, although she was almost surrounded by the 
vessels of the American squadron. It would seem that only the most 
careless seamanship on the part of the Americans could have enabled a 
twenty-gun vessel to escape from four vessels, each one of which was 
singly almost a match for her. It is evident that the Continental 
Congress took the same view of the matter, for Hopkins was soon after 
dismissed from the service. 

This action was little to the credit of the sailors of the colonial 
navy. Fortunately, a second action during the same month set them in 
a better light before the people of the country. This was the encounter 
of the " Lexington," Capt. Barry, with the British vessel " Edward," off 
the capes of Virginia. The two vessels were laid yard-arm to yard-arm; 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '^6. 4S 



and a hot battle ensued, in which the Americans came off the victors. 
The career of this little American brig was a rather remarkable one. The 
year following her capture of the " Edward," she was again off the capes 
of the Delaware, and again fell in with a British ship. This time, how- 
ever, the Englishman was a frigate, and the luckless " Lexington " was 
forced to surrender. Her captor left the Americans aboard their own 
craft, and, putting a prize-crew aboard, ordered them to follow in the 
wake of the frigate. That night the Americans plotted the recapture of 
their vessel. By a concerted movement, they overpowered their captors ; 
and the " Lexington " was taken into Baltimore, where she was soon 
recommissioned, and ordered tp cruise in European waters. 

Shortly after the battle between the " Lexington " and the " Edward," 
there was fought in Massachusetts Bay an action in which the Americans 
showed the most determined bravery, and which for the courage shown, 
and losses suffered on either side, may well be regarded as the most 
important of the naval battles of that year. Early in May, a merchant 
seaman named Mugford had succeeded, after great importunity, in securing 
the command of the armed vessel " Franklin," a small cruiser mounting 
only four guns. The naval authorities had been unwilling to give him the 
command, though he showed great zeal in pressing his suit. Indeed, 
after the appointment had been made, certain damaging rumors concerning 
the newly appointed captain reached the ears of the marine committee, 
and caused them to send an express messenger to Boston to cancel 
Mugford's commission. But the order arrived too late. Mugford had 
already fitted out his ship, and sailed. He had been but a few days at 
sea, when the British ship "Hope," of four hundred tons and mounting 
six guns, hove in sight. More than this, the lookout reported that the 
fleet of the British commodore Banks lay but a few miles away, and in 
plain sight. Many a man would have been daunted by such odds. Not 
so Capt. Mugford. Mustering his men, he showed them the British ship, 
told them that she carried heavier metal than the " Franklin," told 
them that the British fleet lay near at hand, and would doubtless try 
to take a hand in the engagement ; then, having pointed out all the 
odds against them, he said, "Now, my lads, it's a desperate case; but 
we can take her, and win lots of glory and prize-money. Will you stand 
by me ?" 



46 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



The jackies wasted no time in debate, but, cheering lustily for the 
captain, went to their posts, and made ready for a hot fight. The naval 
discipline of the present day was little known, and less observed, at that 
time in the American navy. The perfect order which makes the gun-ded 
jf a ship going into action as quiet and solemn as during Sunday prayer^ 
then gave place to excited talk and bustle. The men stood in crews at 
the four guns; but most of the jackies were mustered on the forecastle, 
ready to board. All expected a desperate resistance. Great was their 
surprise, then, when they were permitted to take a raking position under 
the stern of the " Hope," and to board her without a shot being fired. 
But as Mugford, at the head of the boarders, clambered over the taffrail, 
he heard the captain of the " Hope " order the men to cut the topsail 
halliards and ties, with the intention of so crippling the ship that the 
Ui'itish squadron might overhaul and recapture her. 

"Avast there ! " bawled Mugford, seeing through the plot in an instant, 
nd clapping a pistol to the head of the captain ; "if a knife is touched 
\- .'"hose ropes, not a man of this crew shall live." 

This threat so terrified the captured sailors, that they relinquished 
their design ; and Mugford, crowding all sail on his prize, soon was 
bowling along before a stiff breeze, with the British squadron in hot 
pursuit. An examination of the ship's papers showed her to be the most 
valuable prize yet taken by the Americans. In her hold were fifteen 
hundred barrels of powder, a thousand carbines, a great number of 
travelling carriages for cannon, and a most complete assortment of artillery 
instruments and pioneer tools. While running for Boston Harbor, through 
the channel known as Point Shirley gut, the vessel grounded, but was 
soon floated, and taken safely to her anchorage. Her arrival was most 
timely, as the American army was in the most dire straits for gunpowder. 
It may well be imagined that there was no longer any talk about revoking 
Capt. Mugford's commission. 

Mugford remained in port only long enough to take a supply of powder 
from his prize; then put to sea again. He well knew that the British fleet 
that had chased him into Boston Harbor was still blockading the harbor's 
mouth, but he hoped to evade it by going out through a circuitous channel. 
Unluckily, in thus attempting to avoid the enemy, the "Franklin," ran 
aground, and there remained hard and fast in full view of the enemy. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 47 

lie had as consort the privateer schooner "Lady Washington," whose 
captain, seeing Mugford's dangerous predicament, volunteered to remain 
near at hand and assist in the defence. 

Mugford knew that his case was desperate, and made preparations for a 
most determined resistance. Swinging his craft around, he mounted all 
four of his guns on that side which commanded the channel in the 
direction from which the enemy was expected. Boarding-nettings were 
triced up, and strengthened with cables and cordage, to make an effective 
barrier against the assaults of boarders. The men were served with double 
rations of grog, and set to work sharpening the cutlasses and spears, with 
which they were well provided. The work of preparation was completed 
none too soon ; for about nine o'clock Mugford heard the rattle of oars in 
rowlocks, and saw boats gliding towards the " Franklin " through the 
darkness. 

" Boat ahoy! " he challenged. " Keep off, or I shall fire into you." 

" Don't fire," was the response ; " we are friends from Boston coming 
to your aid." 

"We want none of your aid," cried Mugford with an oath. Then, 
turning to his crew, he shouted, " Let them have it, boys," 

The roar of the cannon then mingled with the rattle of the musketry, 
the cries of the wounded, and the shouts and curses of the combatants, 
as the British strove to clamber up the sides of the " Franklin." Not 
less Ihan two hundred men were engaged on the side of the British, who 
advanced to the fray in thirteen large barges, many of them carrying 
swivel guns. Several boats dashed in close under the side of the "Franklin," 
and their crews strove manfully to board, but were beaten back by the 
Yankees, who rained cutlass blows upon them. The long pikes with 
which the Americans were armed proved particularly effective. " One 
man with that weapon is positive of having killed nine of the enemy," 
says a newspaper of that day. 

Unhappily, however, the heroic Mugford, while urging on his men tc 
a more vigorous resistance, was struck by a musket-ball, which inflicted a 
mortal woimd. At the moment the wound was received, he was reaching 
out (iver the cjuarter to catch hold of the mast of one of the barges, in 
the hope of upsetting her. As he fell to the deck, he called his first 
lieutenant, and said, "I am a dead man. Do not give up the vessel ; you 



48 BLUK-JACKEIS OF '76. 

will be able to beat them off." Nearly forty years after, the heroic 
Lawrence, dying on the deck of the "Chesapeake," repeated Mugford's 
words, " Don't give up the ship." 

For about half an hour the battle raged fiercely. The British, beaten 
back with great loss, returned again and again to the attack. The boats 
would come under the lee of the " Franklin ;" but, not being provided with 
grappling-irons, the British were forced to lay hold of the gunwales of the 
enemy with their hands, which the Americans promptly lopped off with 
their cutlasses. Shots from the swivel guns of the Yankee soon stove in two 
of the boats of the enemy, which sunk, carrying down many of their crew. 
After nearly an hour of this desperate fighting, the British withdrew, having 
lost about seventy men. The only loss sustained by the x\mcricans was 
that of their brave commander Mugford. 

About a month after this battle, there occurred off the coast ol 
Massachusetts a battle in which the Americans, though they fought with 
the most undaunted bravery, were forced to strike their colors to thcii 
idvcrsary. The American was the privateer " Yankee Hero " of NoW' 
)uryport. She sailed from that place for Boston on the 7th of June with 
only forty men aboard, intending to ship her full complement of one 
hundred and twenty at Boston. As the " Hero " rounded Cape Ann, she 
sighted a sail on the horizon, but in her short-handed condition did not 
think it worth while to give chase. The stranger, however, had caught 
sight of the " Hero ; " and, a fresh southerly breeze springing up, she began 
to close with the American. As she came closer, Capt. Tracy of the 
" Yankee Hero " saw that she was a ship-of-war. Despite the desperate 
efforts of the Americans to escape, their pursuer rapidly overhauled them, 
and soon coming up within half a mile, opened fire with her bow chasers. 
The brig returned the fire with a swivel gun, which had little effect. 
Seeing this, Capt. Tracy ordered the firing to cease until the ships should 
came to close quarters. The stranger rapidly overhauled the privateer, 
keeping up all the time a vigorous fire. Tracy with difficulty restrained 
the ardor of his men, who were anxious to try to cripple their pursuer. 
When the enemy came within pistol-shot, Tracy saw that the time for 
action on his part had come, and immediately opened fire with all the 
guns and small-arms that could be brought to boar. The only possible 
chance for escape lay in crippling the big craft with a lucky shot ; but 



BLUE-JACKKTS OF '76. 49 

broadside after broadside was fired, and still the great ship came rushing 
along in the wake of the ikying privateer. Closer and closer drew the 
bulky man-of-war, until her bow crept past the stern of the " Yankee Hero," 
and the marines upon her forecastle poured down a destructive volley 
of musketry upon the brig's crowded deck. The plight of the privateer 
was now a desperate one. Her heavy antagonist was close alongside, 
and towered high above her, so that the marines on the quarter-deck and 
forecastle of the Englishman were on a level with the leading blocks of 
the Yankee. From the depressed guns of the frigate, a murderous fire 
poured down upon the smaller craft. For an hour and twenty minutes 
the two vessels continued the fight, pouring hot broadsides into each 
other, and separated by less than a hundred feet of water. The brisk 
breeze blowing carried away the clouds of smoke, and left the men on 
the deck of the Yankee no protection from sharp-shooters on the enemy's 
deck. Accordingly, the execution was frightful. Tracy, from his post on 
the quarter-deck, saw his men falling like sheep, while the continual volleys 
of the great ship had so cut the cordage of the weaker vessel that escape 
was impossible. At last a musket-ball struck Capt. Tracy in the thigh, 
and he fell bleeding to the deck. For a moment his men wavered at their 
guns ; but he called manfully to them, from where he lay, to fight on boldly 
for the honor of the " Yankee Hero." Two petty officers had rushed to 
his assistance ; and he directed them to lay him upon a chest of arms upon 
the quarter-deck, whence he might direct the course of the battle. But, 
strong though was his spirit, his body was too weak to perform the task 
he had allotted it ; and, growin 5 faint from pain and loss of blood, he was 
carried below. 

He lay unconscious for a few minutes, but was recalled to his senses 
by the piteous cries of wounded men by whom he was surrounded. When 
he came to himself, he saw the cabin filled with grievously wounded people, 
bleeding and suffering for lack of surgical aid. The firing of the privateer 
had ceased, but the enemy was still pouring in pitiless broadsides. Enraged 
at this spectacle, Capt. Tracy ordered his men to re-open the conflict, and 
directed that he be taken in a chair to the quarter-deck. But, on getting 
into the chair, he was suddenly seized with a fainting spell, and gave 
orders, by signs, that the colors be struck. 

When the inequality of the two enemies is considered, this action 



5° BLUE-JACKEPS OF '^6. 



appears to be a most notable reason for pride in the powers of the 
Americans. The " Yankee Hero " was a low single-decked vessel of 
fourteen guns, while her captor was the British frigate of thirty-two guns. 
Yet the little American vessel had held her own for two hours, and by 
good gunnery and skilful manoeuvring had succeeded in doing almost as 
much damage as she had suffered. 

In reading of the naval engagements of the Revolution, one is impressed 
with the small sacrifice of life that attended the most protracted conflicts. 
Thus in the action just recorded only four men were killed upon the 
defeated ship, although for more than an hour the two vessels had 
exchanged broadsides a distance of less than a hundred feet apart. 
The execution done on the British frigate has never been recorded, but 
was probably even less. 

Only the most fragmentary account can be given of any naval 
actions in the year 1776, except those in which America's great naval hero 
Paul Jones took part. Of the trivial encounters that go to complete 
the naval annals of the year, only the briefest recountal is necessary. The 
work of the little brig "Andrea Doria," Capt. Biddle, deserves a passing 
mention. This little fourteen-gun craft had the most wonderful luck in 
making prizes. Besides capturing two transports loaded with British 
soldiers, she took so many merchantmen, that on one cruise she broughc 
back to port only five of her original crew, the rest ha\-ing all been 
put aboard prizes. 

On the 17th of June, the crew of the Connecticut cruiser "Defence," 
a fourteen-gun brig, heard the sound of distant cannonading coming 
faintly over the water. All sail was crowded upon the brig, and she 
made all possible speed to the scene of conflict. About nightfall, she 
fell in with four American schooners that had just been having a tussle 
with two heavy British transports. Three of the American vessels were 
privateers, the fourth was the little cruiser " Lee " in which Capt. John 
Manly had done such brilliant service. The four schooners had found 
the transports too powerful for fhem, and had therefore drawn off, but 
were eager to renew the fray witli the help of the " Defence." Accord- 
ingly the " Defence " led the way to Nantasket Roads, where the transports 
\ay at anchor. Capt. Harding wasted little time in manoeuvring, but, laying 
his vessel alongside the larger of the two transports, summoned her 
commander to strike. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 5^ 

"Ay, ay — I'll strike," was the response from the threatened vessel; 
and instantly a heavy broadside was poured into the "Defence." A sharp 
action followed, lasting for nearly an hour. The " Defence " bore the 
brunt of the conflict, for the four schooners did not come to sufficiently 
close quarters to be of much assistance against the enemy. The gunnerv 
of the Americans proved too much for the enemy, however ; and after 
losing eighteen men, together with a large number wounded, the British 
surrendered. The American vessel was a good deal cut up aloft, and 
lost nine of her men. The next morning a third transport was sighted 
by the " Defence," and speedily overhauled and captured. More than five 
hundred British soldiers were thus captured ; and the British thenceforward 
dared not treat the Americans as rebels, lest the colonial army authorities 
should retaliate upon the British prisoners in their hands. 

It was in the year 1776 that the first naval vessel giving allegiance to 
the American Colonies showed herself in European waters. This vessel 
was the " Reprisal," Capt. Wickes, a small craft, mounting si.xteen guns. 
Early in the summer of 'jG, the "Reprisal" made a cruise to Martinique; 
taking several prizes. When near the island, she encountered the British 
sloop-of-war "Shark," and a sharp battle ensued. In size and weight of 
metal, the two vessels were about evenly matched ; but the " Reprisal " 
had been sending out so many prize-crews, that she was short eighty 
men of her full crew. Therefore, when, after a brisk interchange of 
broadsides, the British sloop sheered off, and left the " Reprisal " to 
continue her course, Capt. Wickes rejoiced in his escape as being almost 
equal to a victory. 

After completing this cruise, the " Reprisal " was ordered to France 
for the purpose of conve}ing thither from Philadelphia Benjamin FrankliH, 
the ambassador sent from the Colonies to interest the French in the 
cause of American liberty. While on the way over, she took two or 
^hree prizes, which were sold in France. After landing her distin- 
guished passenger, she cruised about in the proverbially tempestuous Bay 
'\i Biscay, where she forced several British vessels to strike to the 
American flag, then first seen in those waters. On returning to France 
to sell his newly captured prizes, Capt. Wickes found trouble in store 
for him. The British ambassador at Paris had declared that the 
American cruiser was a detestable pirate ; and that for France to permit 



5- BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

the pirate to anchor in her harbors, or sell his prizes in her markets, 
was equal to a declaration of war against England. Wickes was, 
therefore, admonished to take his ships and prisoners away. But 
even in that early day Yankee wit was sharp, and able to extricate its 
possessor from troublesome scrapes. Wickes knew that there were 
plenty of purchasers to be had for his prizes : so, gathering a few 
ship-owners together, he took them out to sea beyond the jurisdiction of 
France, and there sold thein to the highest bidder. 

The money thus obtained Wickes used in purchasing vessels 
suitable for armed cruisers. While these were fitting out, the 
"Lexington" and the "Dolphin" arrived in France, and soon joined 
the " Reprisal " in a cruise around the British Islands. The little 
squadron fairly swept the Channel and the Irish Sea of merchantmen. 
The excitement in England ran high, and the admiralty despatched 
all the available men-of-war in search of the marauders. But the swift- 
sailing cruisers escaped all pursuers. Once indeed the " Reprisal " 
came near falling into the hands of the enemy, but escaped by 
throwing overboard every thing movable, sawing away her bulwarks, 
and even cutting away her heavy timbers. 

The result of this cruise so aroused England, that France no 
longer dared to harbor the audacious Yankee cruisers. The 

" Lexington " and " Reprisal " were, therefore, ordered to leave 
European waters forthwith. The " Lexington " complied first, and 
when one day out from the port of Morlaix encountered the British 
man-of-war cutter "Alert." The "Alert" was the smaller of the two 
vessels, but her commander had in him all that pluck and those sterling 
seamanlike qualities that made the name of England great upon the 
ocean. A stiff breeze was blowing, and a heavy cross sea running, 
when the two vessels came together. The gunners sighted their 
pieces at random and fired, knowing little whether the shot would 
go plunging into the waves, or fly high into the air. As a result, 
they carried on a spirited cannonade for upwards of two hours, with 
the sole effect of carrying away the top hamper of the "Alert," and 
exhausting most of the powder on the American craft. 

Finding his ammunition rapidly giving out, the captain of the 
"Lexington" clapped on all sail, and soon showed his crippled 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 53 



antagonist a dean pair of heels. But so great was the activity of the 
crew of the " Alert." that they repaired the damage done aloft, and 
in four hours overtook the " American," and opened v.re upon her. 
The battle now became one-sided ; for the " Lexington," being short of 
powder, could make little resistance to the brisk attack of her 
persevering adversary. In less than an hour she was forced to strike 
her flag. 

The fate of the " Reprisal " was even harder than that of her 
consort. While crossing the Atlantic on her way back to the coast 
of America, she was overtaken by a furious gale. With furled sails 
and battened hatches, the little craft made a desperate fight for life. 
But the fierce wind carried away her masts and spars, and the tossing 
waves opened her seams, so that it became apparent to all on board 
that the fate of the gallant craft, that had so nobly defended the cause 
of American liberty, was scaled. As the water rose higher and 
higher in the hold, the officers saw that it was no longer a question 
of the possibility of saving the ship, but that their lives and those of 
the crew were in the greatest danger. Boats were lowered ; but the 
angry white-capped waves tossed them madly aloft, and, turning them 
over and over, sent the poor fellows that manned them to their long 
account. All hands then set to work at the construction of a huge 
raft ; and just as the ship's stern settled, it was pushed off, and all that 
could reach it clambered on. A few poor fellows clung to the sinking 
ship ; and their comrades on the raft saw them crowd on the forecastle, 
and heard their despairing cries as the good ship threw her prow 
high in the air, and sunk stern foremost to the placid depths of the 
stormy ocean. But those on the raft were not destined to escape 
the fate of their comrades. The haggard sufferers were doomed to 
see the frail structure on which their lives depended go slowly to 
pieces before the mighty power of the remorseless sea. Bit by bit 
their foothold vanished from beneath them. One by one they were 
swept off into the seething cauldron of the storm. At last but one 
man remained, the cook of the ill-fated vessel, who floated about for 
three days on a piece of wreckage, until, half-starved and nearly crazed, 
he was picked up by a passing vessel, and told the tale of the wreck. 
So ended the career of the patriotic and gallant Capt. Wickes and 



54 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



his crew, and such is the fate that every stout fellow braves when he 
dons Ills blue jacket and goes to serve his country on the ocean. 

In addition to the exploits of the American cruisers upon the high 
seas, certain operations of the ]?ritish navy along the American coast, 
Juring the year 1776, demand attention. Of these the most important 
was the attack by Sir Peter Parker upon Charleston, in September of 
that year, — an attack made memorable by the determined courage of the 
Americans, the daring e.xploit of Sergt. Jasper, and the discovery of 
the remarkable qualities of palmetto logs as a material for fortifications. 

Charleston was then a town of but a few thousand inhabitants ; but, 
small as it was, it had become particularly obnoxious to the British on 
account of the strong revolutionary sentiment of its people, and their 
many open acts of defiance of King George's authority. When the 
offensive Stamp Act first was published, the people of Charleston rose 
in revolt ; and the stamps for the city being stored in an armed fortress 
in the bay, known as Castle Johnson, a party of a hundred and fifty 
armed men went down the bay, surprised the garrison, captured the 
castle, and, loading its guns, defied the authorities. Not until the promise 
had been made that the stamps should be sent back to England, did the 
rebellious Carolinians lay down their arms. Nor was their peace of long 
duration. When the news of the battle of Lexington reached the little 
Southern seaport, the people straightway cast about for an opportunity to 
strike a blow against the tyranny of England. The opportunity soon 
offered itself. An English sloop laden with powder was lying at St. 
Augustine, Fla. Learning this, the people of Charleston fitted out a vessel, 
which captured the powder-ship, and, eluding a number of British cruisers, 
returned safely to Charleston with fifteen thousand pounds of gunpowder 
for the colonial army. Soon after the colonial troops took possession of the 
forts in the harbor, and Charleston became a revolutionary stronghold. 

Therefore, when the war authorities of Great Britain prepared to 
take active, offensive measures against the seaport cities of the rebellious 
colonies, Charleston was one of the first points chosen for attack. It 
was on the 4th of June, 1776, that the British fleet, under the command 
of the veteran admiral. Sir Peter Parker, appeared off Charleston bar. 
The colonists had learned of its approach some time before ; and the 
town was crowded with troops, both regular and volunteer. Two forts, 



BLUE-JACKKTS OF '76. 55 

Johnson and Sullivan, were erected at points commanding the entrance 
to the harbor. Troops were thrown out to oppose the advance of landing 
parties. The wharves were covered with breastworks, and the streets 
leading up from the water-side were barricaded. There was a great scarce- 
ness of lead for bullets ; and to supply that need the leaden sashes, in 
which window-panes were at that time set, were melted down. When 
the fleet of the enemy appeared in the offing, Charleston was quite ready 
to give the invaders a warm reception. 

Fort Sullivan was the chief work in the harbor, and against this 
Parker began a vigorous cannonade early on the morning of the 28th 
of June. The fort had been built of logs of palmetto wood, and was 
looked upon with some distrust by its defenders, who did not know how 
well that material could withstand cannon-shot ; but the opening volley 
of the fleet re-assured them. The balls penetrated deep in the soft, 
spongy wood without detaching any of the splinters, which, in a battle, 
are more dangerous than the shot themselves. The fort soon replied to 
the fire of the fleet ; and the thunder of three hundred cannon rang out 
over the bay, while dense clouds of sulphurous smoke hid the scene fron 
the eager gaze of the crowds of people on the housetops of the city. 

When the stately ships of the British squadron swung into line 
before the little wooden fort, tbere was hardly a sailor who did not 
take his station without a feeling of contempt for the insignificant 
obstacle that they were about to sweep from their path. But as the 
day wore on, and the ceaseless cannonade seemed to have no effect on 
the bastions of the fort, the case began to look serious. 

"Mind the commodore, and the fifty-gun ships," was the command 
Moultrie gave to the gunners in the fort when the action commenced, 
and right well did they heed the injunction. The quarter-decks of the 
ships-of-the-line were swept clean of officers. The gunners in the fort 
soon found that the fire of the enemy was doing little or no execution, 
and they sighted their guns as coolly as though out for a day's target 
practice. The huge iron balls crashed through the hulls of the ships, or 
swept their decks, doing terrific execution. The cable of the " 15ristol " 
was shot away, and she swung round with her stern to the fort. In 
this position she was raked repeatedly; her captain was killed, and at 
one time not an officer remained on her quarter-deck except the admiral 



56 I',LUi:-JACKETS OF '76. 

Sir Peter Parker. When the conflict ceased, this ship alone contained 
forty killed and seventy-one wounded men. The other ships suffered 
nearly as severely. The twenty-eight-gun ship " Actaeon " grounded 
during the course of the engagement ; and when, after ten hours' fruitless 
cannonading, the British abandoned the task of reducing the fort, 
and determined to withdraw, she was found to be immovable. Accord- 
ingly Admiral Parker signalled to her officer to abandon the ship, and 
set her on fire. This was accordingly done ; and the ship was left with 
her colors flying, and her guns loaded. This movement was observed by 
the Americans, who, in spite of the danger of an explosion, boarded the 
ship, fired her guns at the "Bristol," loaded three boats with stores, and 
pulled away, leaving the " Actacon " to blow up, which she did half an 
hour later. 

While the battle was at its hottest, and the shot and shell were 
flying thick over the fort, the flagstaff was shot away ; and the flag of 
South Carolina, a blue ground, bearing a silver crescent, fell on the beach 
outside the parapet. Sergt. William Jasper, seeing this, leaped on the 
bastion, walked calmly through the storm of flying missiles, picked up 
the flag, and fastened it upon a sponge-staff. Then standing upon the 
highest point of the parapet, in full view of the ships and the men in 
the fort, he calmly li.xed the staff upi^ght, and returned to his place, 
leaving the flag proudly waving. The next day the governor of the 
colony visited the fort, and seeking out the brave sergeant, handed him 
a handsome sword and a lieutenant's commission. But Jasper proved to 
be as modest as he was brave ; for he declined the proffered promotion, 
with the remark, — 

"I am not fit to keep ofificers' company; I am but a sergeant." 
The complete failure of the attack upon Charleston was a bitter pill 
for the English to swallow. They had brought against the raw, untrained 
torces of the colony some of the finest ships of the boasted navy ot 
Great Britain. They had fought well and pluckily. The fact that Sir 
Peter Tarker was in command was in itself a guaranty that the attack 
would be a spirited one; and the tremendous loss of life in the fleet 
affords convincing proof that no poltroonery lurked among the British 
sailors. The loss of the British during the engagement, in killed and 
wounded, amounted to two hundred and twenty-five men. The Americans 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 57 

had ten men killed and twenty-two wounded. Moultrie, the commandant 
of the fort, says that after the battle was over they picked up more 
than twelve hundred solid shot of different sizes, and many thirteen-inch 
shells. Most of the shells that fell within the fort fell into a large 
pool of water, which extinguished their fuses, thus robbing them of their 
power for evil. 

In his report of this battle. Admiral Parker fell into a queer error. 
He reports that a large party of men entering the fort met a man going 
out, whom they straightway hanged to a neighboring tree, in full view of 
the fieet. From this the admiral concluded that there was an incipient 
mutiny in the fort, and the ringleader was hanged as an example. 
Col. Moultrie, however, explained this by stating that the man hanging in 
the tree was simply the coat of a soldier, which had been carried away by 
a cannon-shot, and left hanging in the branches. 











CHAPTER VI. 



THE CAREER OF PAUL JOXES.— IX COMMAND OF 
THE "PROVIDENCE." — CAPTURE OF THE "MEL- 
LISH." — EXPLOITS WITH THE "ALFRED." - IN 
COMMAND OF THE " RANGER." — SWEEPING THE 
ENGLISH CHANNEL. — THE DESCENT UPON 
WHITEH-^VEN. 




E HAVE already spoken of the farcical affair between the fleet 
under Ezekiel Hopkins and the English frigate " Glasgow," in 
which the English vessel, by superior seamanship, and taking 
advantage of the blunders of the Americans, escaped capture. 
The primary result of this battle was to cause the dismissal from the 
service of Hopkins. But his dismissal led to the advancement of a young 
naval officer, whose name became one of tlie most glorious in American 
naval annals, and whose fame as a skilful seaman has not been tarnished 
by the hand of time. 

At the time of the escape of the " Glasgow," there was serving upon 
the "Alfred" a young lieutenant, by name John Paul Jones. Jones was 
a Scotchman. His rightful name was John Paul ; but for some reason, 
never fuily understood, he had assumed the surname of Jones, and his 
record under the name of Paul Jones forms one of the most glorious 
chapters of American naval history. When given a lieutenant's commission 
in the colonial navy, Jones was twenty-nine years old. From the day 
when a lad of thirteen years he shipped for his first voyage, he had spent 
,S8 




CAPTAIN JOHN PAUL JONES QUKl.LING THt MOB 
AT WHITE HAVEN, bCOILAND, NOV., 1777 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 59 



his life on the ocean. He had served on peaceful merchantmen, and in 
the less peaceful, but at that time equally respectable, slave-trade. A 
small inheritance had enabled him to assume the station of a Virginia 
gentleman ; and he had become warmly attached to American ideas and 
principles, and at the outbreak of the Revolution put his services at the 
command of Congress. He was first offered a captain's commission with 
the command of the " Providence," mounting twelve guns and carrying one 
hundred men. But with extraordinary modesty the young sailor declined, 
saying that he hardly felt himself fitted to discharge the duties of a first 
lieutenant. The lieutenant's commission, however, he accepted ; and it was 
in this station that with his own hands he hoisted the first American flag 
to the masthead of the "Alfred." 

The wretched fiasco which attended the attack of the American fleet 
upon the " Glasgow " was greatly deplored by Jones. However, he 
refrained from any criticism upon his superiors, and sincerely regretted 
the finding of the court of inquiry, by which the captain of the 
"I^rovidencc " was dismissed the service, and Lieut. Paul Jones recom 
mended to fill the vacancy. 

The duties which devolved upon Capt. Jones were manifold and 
arduous. The ocean was swarming with powerful British men-of-war, 
which in his little craft he must avoid, while keeping a sharp outlook 
for foemen with whom he was equally matched. More than once, from 
the masthead of the " Providence," the lookout could discover white sails 
of one or more vessels, any one of which, with a single broadside, could 
have sent the audacious Yankee to the bottom. But luckily the 
" Providence " was a fast sailer, and wonderfully obedient to her helm. 
To her good sailing qualities, and to his own admirable seamanship, 
Jones owed more than one fortunate escape. Once, when almost overtaken 
by a powerful man-of-war, he edged away until he brought his pursuer 
on his weather quarter ; then, putting his helm up suddenly, he stood dead 
before the wind, thus doubling on his course, and running past his 
adversary within pistol-shot of her guns, but in a course directly opposite 
to that upon which she was standing. The heavy war-ship went plunging 
ahead like a heavy hound eluded by the agile fo.x, and the Yankee 
proceeded safely on her course. 

Some days later the " Providence " was lying to on the great banks 



6o BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

near the Isle of Sables. It was a holiday for the crew ; for no sails were 
in sight, and Capt. Jones had indulgently allowed them to get out their 
cod-lines and enjoy an afternoon's fishing. In the midst of their sport, 
as they were hauling in the finny monsters right merrily, the hail of the 
lookout warned them that a strange sail was in sight. The stranger drew 
rapidly nearer, and was soon made out to be a war-vessel. Jones, finding 
after a short trial that his light craft could easily outstrip the lumbering 
man-of-war, managed to keep just out of reach. Now and then the pursuer 
would luff up and let fly a broadside ; the shot skipping along over the 
waves, but sinking before they reached the " Providence." Jones, who 
had an element of humor in his character, responded to this cannonade 
with one musket, which, with great solemnity, was discharged in response 
to each broadside. After keeping up this burlesque battle for some hours, 
the " Providence " spread her sails, and soon left her foe hull down 
beneath the horizon. 

After having thus eluded his pursuer, Jones skirted the coast of Cape 
Breton, and put into the harbor of Canso, where he found three British 
fishing schooners lying at anchor. The inhabitants of the little fishing 
village were electrified to see the " Providence " cast anchor in the harbor, 
and, lowering her boats, send two crews of armed sailors to seize the 
British craft. No resistance was made, however ; and the Americans 
burned one schooner, scuttled a second, and after filling the third with 
fish, taken from the other two, took her out of the harbor with the 
" Providence " leading the way. 

From the crew of the captured vessel, Jones learned that at the 
Island of Madame, not far from Canso, there was a considerable flotilla 
of British merchantmen. Accordingly he proceeded thither with the 
intention of destroying them. On arriving, he found the harbor too 
shallow to admit the " Providence ; " and accordingly taking up a position 
from which he could, with his cannon, command the harbor, he despatched 
armed boats' crews to attack the shipping. On entering the harbqr, the 
Americans found nine British vessels lying at anchor. Ships and brigs, 
as well as small fishing schooners, were in the fleet. It was a rich prize 
for the Americans, and it was won without bloodshed ; for the peaceful 
fishermen offered no resistance to the Yankees, and looked upon the 
capture of their vessels with amazement. The condition of these poor 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 61 



men, thus left on a bleak coast with no means of escape, appealed strongly 
to Jones's humanity. He therefore told them, that, if they would assist him 
in making ready for sea such of the prizes as he wished to take with him, 
he would leave them vessels enough to carry them back to England. The 
fishermen heartily agreed to the proposition, and worked faithfully for 
several days at the task of fitting out the captured vessels. The night 
before the day on which Jones had intended leaving the harbor, the wind 
came on to blow, and a violent storm of wind and rain set in. Even the 
usually calm surface of the little harbor was lashed to fury by the shrieking 
v/ind. The schooner " Sea-Flower " — one of the captured prizes — was 
torn from her moorings ; and though her crew got out the sweeps, and 
struggled valiantly for headway against the driving storm, she drifted on 
shore, and lay there a total wreck. The schooner " Ebenezer," which 
Jones had brought from Canso laden with fish, drifted on a sunken reef, 
and was there so battered by the roaring waves that she went to pieces. 
Her crew, after vainly striving to launch the boats, built a raft, and saved 
themselves on that. 

The ne.xt day the storm abated ; and Capt. Jones, taking with him 
three heavily laden prizes, left the harbor, and turned his ship's prow 
homeward. The voyage to Newport, then the headquarters of the little 
navy, was made without other incident than the futile chase of three 
British ships, which ran into the harbor of Louisbourg. On his arrival, 
Jones reported that he had been cruising for forty-seven days, and in 
that time had captured si.xteen prizes, beside the fishing-vessels he burned 
at Cape Breton. Eight of his prizes he had manned, and sent into port ; 
the remainder he had burned. It was the first effective blow the colonists 
had yet struck at their powerful foe upon the ocean. 

Hardly had Paul Jones completed this first cruise, when his mind, ever 
active in the service of his country, suggested to him a new enterprise 
in which he might contribute to the cause of American liberty. At this 
early period of the Revolution, the British were treating American prisoners 
with almost inconceivable barbarity. Many were sent to the "Ok! Jersey" 
prison-ship, of whose horrors we shall read something later on. Others, 
to the number of about a hundred, were taken to Cape Breton, and 
forced to labor like Russian felons in the underground coal-mines. 
Jones's plan was bold in its conception, but needed only energy and 
promptitude to make it perfectly feasible. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



He besought the authorities to give him command of a squadron, that 
he might move on Cape Breton, dcstro)' the British coal and fishing 
vessels always congregated there, and liberate the hapless Americans 
who were passing their lives in the dark misery of underground mining. 
His plan was received with favor, but the authorities lacked the means 
10 give him the proper aid. Howe\er, two vessels, the "Alfred" and 
the " Providence," were assigned to him ; and he went speedily to work 
to prepare for the adventure. At the outset, he was handicapped by lack 
of men. The privateers were then fitting out in every port ; and seamen 
saw in privateering easier service, milder discipline, and greater profits 
than they could hope for in the regular navy. When, by hard work, the 
muster-roll of the "Alfred" showed her full complement of men shipped, 
the stormy month of November had arrived, and the golden hour for 
success was past. 

Nevertheless, Jones, taking command of the " Alfred," and putting 
the "Providence" in the command of Capt. Hacker, left Newport, and 
laid his course to the northward. When he arrived off the entrance to 
the harbor of Louisbourg, he was so lucky as to encounter an English 
brig, the " Mcllish," which, after a short resistance, struck her flag. She 
proved to be laden with heavy warm clothing for the British trpops in 
Canada. This capture was a piece of great good fortune for the Americans, 
and many a poor fellow in Washington's army that winter had cause 
to bless Paul Jones for his activity and success. 

The day succeeding the capture of the " Mellish " dawned gray and 
cheerless. Light flurries of snow swept across the waves, and by noon 
a heavy snowstorm, driven by a violent north-east gale, darkened the 
air, and lashed the waves into fury. Jones stood dauntless at his post 
on deck, encouraging the sailors by cheery words, and keeping the sturdy 
little vessel on her course. All day and night the storm roared ; and 
when, the next morning, Jones, wearied by his ceaseless vigilance, looked 
an.xiously across the waters for his consort, she was not to be seen. The 
people on the "Alfred" supposed, of course, that the "Providence" was 
lost, with all on board, and mourned the sad fate of their comrades. But, 
in fact, Capt. Hacker, affrighted by the storm, had basely deserted his 
leader during the night, and made off for Newjjort, leaving Jones to 
prosecute his enterprise alone. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 63 



Jones recognized in this desertion the knell of the enterprise upon 
which he had embarked. Nevertheless, he disdained to return to port; 
so sending the "Mellish" and a second prize which the British afterwards 
recaptured, back to Massachusetts, he continued his cruise along tlie 
Nova Scotia coast. Again he sought out tlie harbor of Canso, and, 
entering it, found a large English transport laden with provisions aground 
just inside the bar. Bouts' crews from the "Alfred" soon set the torch 
to the stranded ship, and then, landing, fired a huge warehouse filled 
with whale-oil and the products of the fisheries. Leaving the blazing 
jjile behind, the "Alfred" put out again into the stormy sea, and made 
for the northward. 

As he approached Louisbourg, Jones fell in with a considerable fleet 
of British coal-vessels, in convoy of the frigate " Flora." A heavy fog 
hung over the ocean ; and the fleet Yankee, flying here and there, 
was able to cut out and capture three of the vessels without alarming 
the frigate, that continued unsuspectingly on her course. Two days later, 
Jone.s snapped up a Liverpool privateer, that fired scarcely a single gun 
in resistance. Then crowded with prisoners, embarrassed by prizes, and 
short of food and water, the " Alfred turned her coiu'se homeward. 

Five valuable prizes sailed in her wake. An.xiety for the safety of 
these gave Jones no rest b}- day or night. lie was ceaselessly on the 
watch lest some hostile man-of-war should overhaul his fleet, and force 
him to abandon his hard-won frtiits of victory. All went well until, 
when off St. George's Bank, he encountered the frigate "Milford," — the 
same craft to whose cannon-balls Jones, but a few months before, had 
tauntingly responded with musket-shots. 

It was late in the afternoon when the " Milford " was sighted ; and 
Jones, seeing that she eould by no possibility overtake his squadron 
before night, ordered his prizes to continue their course without regard 
to any lights or apparent signals from the "Alfred." When darkness fell 
upon the sea, the Yankees were scudding along on the starboard tack, 
with the Englishman coming bravely up astern. I'"rom the tops of the 
" Alfred " swung two burning lanterns, which the enemy doubtless 
pronounced a bit of beastly stupidity on the part of the Yankee, 
affording, as it did, an e.xcellent guide for the pursuer to steer by. But 
during the night the wily Jones changed his course. The prizes, with 



64 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

the exception of the captured privateer, continued on the starboard tack. 
The " Alfred " and the privateer made off on the port tack, with the 
"Milford" in full cry in their wake. Not until the morning dawned did 
the Englishman discover how he had been tricked. 

Having thus secured the safety of his prizes, it only remained for 
Jones to escape with the privateer. Unluckily, however, the officer put 
in charge of the privateer proved incapable, and his craft fell into hands 
of the British. Jones, however, safely carried the " Alfred " clear of the 
" Milford's " guns, and, a heavy storm coming up, soon eluded his foe in 
the snow and darkness. Thereupon he shaped his course for Boston, 
where he arrived on the 5th of December, 1776. Had he been delaved 
two days longer, both his provisions and his water would have been 
e.xhausted. 

For the ensuing six months Jones remained on shore, not by any means 
inactive, for his brain was teeming with great jirojects for his country's 
service. He had been deprived of the command of the "Alfred," and 
another ship was not easily to be found : so he turned his attention to 
questions of naval organization, and the results of many of his suggestions 
are observable in the United States navy to-day. It was not until June 
14, 1777, that a command was found for him. This was the eighteen-gun 
ship " Ranger," built to carry a frigate's battery of twenty-six guns. She 
had been built for the revolutionary government, at Portsmouth, and was a 
stanch-built, solid craft, though miserably slow and somewhat crank. 
Jones, though disappointed with the sailing qualities of the craft, was 
nevertheless vastly delighted to be again in command of a man-of-war, and 
wasted no time in getting her ready for sea. 

It so happened, that, on the very day Paul Jones received his commission 
as commander of the " Ranger," the Continental Congress adopted the 
Stars and Stripes for the national flag. Jones, anticipating this action, 
had prepared a flag in accordance with the proposed designs, and, upon 
hearing of the action of Congress, had it run to the masthead, while the 
cannon of the " Ranger " thundered out their deep-mouthed greetings to 
the starry banner destined to wave over the most glorious nation of the 
earth. Thus it happened that the same hand that had given the pine-tree 
banner to the winds was the first to fling out to the breezes the bright folds 
of the Stars and Stripes. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 65 

Early in October the " Ranger " left Portsmouth, and made for the 
coast of France. Astute agents of the Americans in that country were 
having a fleet, powerful frigate built there for Jones, which he was to 
take, leaving the sluggish "Ranger" to be sold. But, on his arrival at 
Nantes, Jones was grievously disappointed to learn tliat the British 
Government had so vigorously protested against the building of a vessel- 
of-war in France for the Americans, that the French Government had been 
obliged to notify the American agents that their plan must be abandoned. 
France was at this time at peace with Great Britain, and, though inclined 
to be friendly with the rebellious colonies, was not ready to entirely 
abandon her position as a neutral power. Later, when she took up arms 
against England, she gave the Americans every right in her ports they 
could desire. 

Jones thus found himself in European waters with a vessel too weak to 
stand against the frigates England could send to take her, and too slow 
to elude them. But he determined to strike some effective blows for the 
cause of liberty. Accordingly he planned an enterprise, which, for audacity 
of conception and dash in execution, has never been equalled by any naval 
expedition since. 

This was nothing less than a virtual invasion of England. The 
" Ranger " lay at Brest. Jones planned to dash across the English 
Channel, and cruise along the coast of England, burning shipping and 
towns, as a piece of retaliation upon the British for their wanton outrages 
along the American coast. It was a bold plan. The channel was 
thronged with the heavy frigates of Great Britain, any one of which 
could have annihilated the audacious Yankee cruiser. Nevertheless, Jones 
determined to brave the danger. 

At the outset, it seemed as though his purpose was to be balked by 
heavy weather. For days after the " Ranger " left Brest, she battled 
against the chop-seas of the English Channel. The sky was dark, and the 
light of the sun obscured by gray clouds. The wind whistled through 
the rigging, and tore at the tightly furled sails. Great green walls of 
water, capped with snowy foam, beat thunderously against the sides 
of the " Ranger." Now and then a port would be driven in, and the 
men between decks drenched by the incoming deluge. The " Ranger" 
had encountered an equinoctial gale in its worst form. 



66 BLUK-JACKK'1'S OF '76. 

When the gale died away, Jones found himself off the Scilly Islands, 
in full view of the coast of England. Here he encountered a merchant- 
man, which he took and scuttled, sending the crew ashore to sjjread the 
news that an American man-of-war was ravaging the channel. Maving 
"alarmed all England, he changed his hunting-ground to St. George's 
Channel and the Irish Sea, where he captured several ships ; sending one, 
a prize, back, to Brest. He was in waters with which he had been 
familiar from his youth, and he made good use of his knowledge ; dashing 
here and there, lying in wait in the highway of commerce, and then 
secreting himself in some sequestered cove while the enemy's ship-of-war 
went b}' in fruitless search for the marauder. All England was aroused 
by the exploits of the Yankee cruiser. Never since the days of the 
Invincible Armada had war been' so brought home to the people of 
the tight little island. Long had the British boastfully claimed the title 
of monarch of the seas. Long had they sung the vainglorious song, — 

" Britannia needs no bulwarks, 
No towers along the steep; 
Her march is o'er the mountain waves, 
Her home is on the deep." 

But Paul Jones showed Great Britain that her boasted power was a 
bubble. He ravaged the seas within cannon-shot of English headlands 
He captured and burned merchantmen, drove the rates of insurance up 
to panic prices, paralyzed British shipping-trade, and even made small 
incursions into British territory. 

The reports that reached Jones of Biitish barbarity along the American 
coast, of the burning of Falmouth, of tribute levied on innumerable 
seaport towns, — all aroused in him a determination to strike a retaliatory 
blow. Whitehaven, a small seaport, was the spot chosen by him for 
attack ; and he brought his ship to off the mouth of the harbor late 
one night, intending to send in a boat's crew to fire the shipping. But 
so strong a wind sprung up, as to threaten to drive the ship ashore ; 
and Jones was forced to make sail, and get an offing. A second attempt, 
made upon a small harbor called Lochryan, on the western coast of 
Scotland, was defeated by a like cause. 

But the expedition against Lochryan, though in itself futile, was the 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 67 

means of giving Jones an opportunity to sliovv iiis merits as a figliter. 
Soon after leaving Lochryan, he entered the bay of Carriehfergus, on 
which is situated the Irish commercial city of Belfast. The bay was 
constantFy filled with merchantmen ; and the " Ranger," with her ports 
closed, and her warlike character carefully disguised, excited no suspicion 
aboard a trim, heavy-built craft that lay at anchor a little farther u,j 
the bay. This craft was the British man-of-war " Drake," mountm<.' 
twenty guns. Soon after his arrival in the bay, Jones learned the char- 
acter of the " Drake," and determined to attempt her capture during 
the night. AccoVdingly he dropped anchor near by, and, while carefully 
concealing the character of his craft, made every preparation for a 
midnight fight. The men sat between decks, sharpening cutlasses, and 
cleaning and priming their pistols ; the cannon were loaded with grape, 
and depressed for work at close quarters ; battle lanterns were hung in 
place, ready to be lighted at the signal for action. 

At ten o'clock, the tramp of men about the capstan gave notice that 
t'i\c anchor was being brought to the catheads. Soon the creaking ol 
cordage, and the snapping of the sails, told that the fresh breeze was 
being caught by the spreading sails. Then the waves rippled about the 
bow of the ship, and the "Ranger" was fairly under way. 

It was a pitch-dark night, but the lights on board the "Drake" 
showed where she was lying. On tiie "Ranger" all lights were extin- 
guished, and no noise told of her progress towards her enemy. It was 
the captain's plan to run his vessel across the "Drake's" cable, drop 
his own anchor, let the "Ranger" swing alongside the Englishman, and 
then fight it out at close quarters. But this plan, though well laid, 
failed of execution. The anchor was not let fall in season ; and the 
" Ranger," instead of bringing up alongside her enemy, came to anchor 
half a cable-length astern. The swift-flowing tide and the fresh breeze 
made it impossible to warp the ship alongside : so Jones ordered the 
cable cut, and the " Ranger " scudded down the bay before the ever- 
freshening gale. It does not appear that the people on the " Drake " 
were aware of the danger they so narrowly escaped. 

The wind that had aided the tide in defeating Jones's enterprise 
blew stronger and stronger, and before morning the sea was tossing 
before a regular north-east gale. Against it the " Ranger " could 



68 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



make no headway : so Jones gave his ship her head, and scudded before 
the wind until witliin the vicinity of Whitehaven, when he determined 
to again attempt to destroy the shipping rn that port. This time he 
was successful. Bringing the " Ranger " to anchor near the bar, Capt 
Jones called for volunteers to accompiny him on the expedition. 
He himself was to be their leader ; for as a boy he had often sailed 
in and out of the little h..rbor, knew where the forts stood, and 
where the colliers anchored most thickly. The landing party was 
divided into two boat-bads ; Jones taking command of one, while 
Lieut. Wallingford held the tdler of the other boat. With muffled 
oars the Americans made for the shore, the boats' keels grated upon 
the pebbly shore, and an instant later the adventurers had scaled the 
ramparts of the forts, and had made themselves masters of the garrisons. 
All was done quietly. The guns in the fortifications were spiked ; and, 
leaving the few soldiers on guard gagged and bound, Jones and his 
followers hastened down to the wharves to set fire to the shipping. 

In the harbor were not less than two hundred and twenty vessels, 
.hrge and small. On the north side of the harbor, near the forts, 
were about one hundred and fifty vessels. These Jones undertook to 
destroy. The others were left to Lieut. Wallingford, wdth his boat's 
crew of fifteen picked men. 

When Jones and his followers reached the cluster of merchantmen, 
they found their torches so far burned out as to be useless. Failure 
stared them in the face then, when success was almost within their 
grasp. Jones, however, was not to be balked of his prey. Running 
his boat ashore, he hastened to a neighboring house, where he 
demanded candles. With these he returned, led his men aboard a 
large ship from which the crew fled, and deliberately built a fire in 
her hold. Lest the fire should go out, he found a barrel of tar, and 
threw it upon the flames. Then with the great ship roaring and 
crackling, and surrounded by scores of other vessels in danger from 
the flames, Jones withdrew, thinking his work complete. 

Many writers have criticised Paul Jones for not having stayed 
longer to complete the destruction of the vessels in the harbor. But, 
with the gradually brightening day, his position, which was at the 
best very dangerous, was becoming desperate. There were one 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 69 

hundred and fifty vessels in that part of the harbor ; the crews 
averaged ten men to a vessel : so that nearly fifteen hundred men 
were opposed to the plucky little band of Americans. The roar of 
the fire aroused the people of the town, and they rushed in crowds 
to the wharf. In describing the affair Jones writes, " The inhabitants 
began to appear in thousands, and individuals ran hastily toward us. 
I stood between them and the ship on fire, with my pistol in my 
hand, and ordered them to stand, which they did with some 
precipitation. The sun was a full hour's march above the horizon ; 
and, as sleep no longer ruled the world, it was time to retire. 
We re-embarked without opposition, having released a number of 
prisoners, as our boats could not carry them.' After all my people 
had embarked, I stood upon the pier for a considerable space, yet 
'no person advanced. I saw all the eminences round the town 
covered with the amazed inhabitants." 

As his boat drew away from the blazing shipping, Jones looked 
anxiously across the harbor to the spot to which Lieut. Wallingford 
had been despatched. But no flames were seen in that quarter; for, 
Wallingford's torches having gone out, he had abandoned the enter- 
prise. And so the Americans, having regained their ship, took their 
departure, leaving only one of the enemy's vessels burning. A most 
lame and impotent conclusion it was indeed; but, as Jones said, "Wbit 
was done is sufficient to show that not all the boasted British navy is 
sufficient to protect their own coasts, and that the scenes of distress 
which they have occasioned in America may soon be brought home to 
their own doors." 



^^^"^^ 




CHAPTER Vn. 



"AREER OF PAUL JONES CONTINUED. - HIS DESCENT UPON THE CASTLE OF LORD SELKIRK 
— THE AFFAIR OF THE PLATE. — THE DESCENT UPON WHITEHAVEN. — THE BATTLl 
WITH THE "DRAKE." — LIEUT. SIMPSON'S PERFIDY. 




E NOW come to the glorious part of the career of Paul Jones 
upon the ocean. Heretofore he has been cliiefly occupied in 
the capture of defenceless merchantmen. His work has been 
that of the privateer, even if not of the j)irate that the British 
have always claimed he was. But the time came when Jones proved 
that he was ready to fight an adversary of his mettle ; was willing to take 
heavy blows, and deal stunning ones in return. His daring was not 
confined to dashing expeditions in which the danger was chiefly overcome 
by spirit and rapid movements. While this class of operations was evef 
a favorite with the doughty seaman, he was not at all averse to the deadly 
naval duel. 

We shall for a time abandon our account of the general naval incidents 
of the Revolution, to follow the career of Paul Jones to the end of the 
war. His career is not only the most interesting, but the most important, 
feature of the naval operations of that war. He stands out alone, a 
grand figure in naval history, as docs Decatur in the wars with the 
Barbary pirates, or Farragut in the war for the Union. The war of l8ia 
70 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 71 



affords no such example of single greatness in the navy. There we 
find Perry, McDonough, and Porter, all equally great. But in 'yOi there 
was no one to stand beside Paul Jones. 

When the "Ranger" left the harbor of Whitehaven, her captain was 
heavy hearted. He felt that he had had the opportunity to strike a 
heavy blow at the British shipping, but had nevertheless inflicted only 
a trifling hurt. Angry with himself for not having better planned the 
adventure, and discontented with his lieutenant for not having by presence 
of mind prevented the fiasco, he felt that peace of mind could only be 
obtained by some deed of successful daring. 

He was cruising in seas familiar to him as a sailor. Along the 
Scottish shores his boyhood hours had been spent. This knowledge 
he sought to turn to account. From the deck of his ship, he could 
see the wooded shores of St. Mary's Island, on which were the landed 
estates of Lord Selkirk, a British noble of ancient lineage and political 
prominence. On the estate of this nobleman Paul Jones was born, and 
there he passed the few years of his life that elapsed before he forsook 
the land for his favorite element. 

Leaning against the rail on the cjuarter-dcck of the " Ranger," Jones 
could see through his spy-glass the turrets and spires of Lord Selkirk's 
castle. As he gazed, there occurred to him the idea, that if he could 
send a landing party ashore, seize the castle, capture the peer, and 
bear him off into captivity, he would not only strike terror into the hearts 
of the British, but would give the Americans a prisoner who would serve 
as a hostage to secure good treatment for the hapless Americans who had 
fallen into the hands of the enemy. 

With Jones, the conception of a plan was followed by its swift 
execution. Disdaining to wait for nightfall, he chose two boats' crews 
of tried and trusty men, and landed. The party started up the broad 
and open highway leading to the castle. They had gone but a few rods, 
however, when they encountered two countrymen, who stared a moment 
at the force of armed men, and then turned in fear to escape. 

"Halt!" rang out the clear voice of the leader of the blue-jackets; 
and the peasants fell upon their faces in abject terror. Jones directed that 
they be brought to him ; and he questioned them kindly, setting their 
minds at rest, and learning from them much of the castle and its inmates. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



Lord Selkirk was away from home. This to Jones was bitter news. It 
seemed as though some evil genius was dogging his footsteps, bringing 
failure upon his most carefully planned enterprises. But he was not a 
man to repine over the inevitable, and he promptly ordered his men to 
the right about, and made for the landing-place again. 

But the sailors were not so unselfish in their motives as their captain. 
They had come ashore expecting to plunder the castle of the earl, 
and they now murmured loudly over the abandonment of the adventure. 
They saw the way clear before them. No guards protected the house. 
The massive ancestral plate, with which all English landed families are 
well provided, was unprotected by bolts or bars. They felt that, in 
retreating, they were throwing away a chance to despoil their enemy, 
and enrich themselves. 

Jones felt the justice of the complaint of the sailors; but only after 
a fierce struggle with his personal scruples could he yield the point. 
The grounds of the Earl of Selkirk had been his early playground. 
A lodge on the vast estate had been his childhood's home. Lady Selkirk 
had shown his family many kindnesses. To now come to her house as 
a robber and pillager, seemed the blackest ingratitude ; but, on the other 
hand, he had no right to permit his personal feelings to interfere with 
his duty to the crew. The sailors had followed him into danger many 
a time, and this was their first opportunity for financial reward. And, 
even if it was fair to deny them this chance to make a little prize-money, 
it would hardly be safe to sow the seeds of discontent among the crew 
while on a cruise in waters infested with the enemy's ships. With a sigh 
Jones abandoned his intention of protecting the property of Lady Selkirk, 
and ordered his lieutenant to proceed to the castle, and capture the 
family plate. Jones himself returned to the ship, resolved to purchase 
the spoils at open sale, and return them to their former owner. 

The blue-jackets continued their way up the highway, and, turning 
aside where a heavy gate opened into a stately grove, demanded of an 
old man who came, wondering, out of the lodge, that he give them instant 
admittance. Then, swinging into a trot, they ran along the winding 
carriage-drive until they came out on the broad lawn that extended in 
front of the castle. Here for the first time they were seen by the inmates 
of the castle ; and faint screams of fear, and shouts of astonishment. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. "J^ 

came from the open windows of the stately pile. The men-servants came 
rushing out to discover who the lawless crowd that so violated the sanctity 
of an English earl's private park could be ; but their curiosity soon abated 
when a few stout blue-jackets, cutlass and pistol in hand, surrounded 
them, and bade them keep quiet. The lieutenant, with two stout seamen 
at his back, then entered the castle, and sought out the mistress, who 
received him with calm courtesy, with a trace of scorn, but with no sign 
of fear. 

Briefly the lieutenant told his errand. The countess gave an order to 
a butler, and soon a line of stout footmen entered, bearing the plate. Heavy 
salvers engraved with the family arms of Lord Selkirk, quaint drinking- 
cups and flagons curiously carved, ewers, goblets, platters, covers, dishes, 
teapots, and all kinds of table utensils were there, all of exquisitely artistic 
workmanship, and bearing the stamp of antiquity. When all was ready, 
the lieutenant called in two of the sailors from the lawn ; and soon the 
whole party, bearing the captured treasure, disappeared in the curves of 
the road. 

This incident, simple enough in reality, the novelist Fenimore Cooper 
has made the germ of one of his exquisite sea-tales, "The Pilot." British 
historians have made of it an example by which to prove the lawlessness 
and base ingratitude of Paul Jones. As may readily be imagined, it 
stirred up at the time the most intense excitement in England. Jones 
became the bugbear of timid people. His name was used to frighten little 
children. He was called pirate, traitor, frce-booter, plunderer. It was 
indeed a most audacious act that he had committed. Never before or 
since had the soil of England been trodden by a hostile foot. Never had 
a British peer been forced to feel that his own castle was not safe from the 
invader. Jones, with his handful of American tars, had accomplisheil a 
feat which had never before been accomplished, and which no later foeman 
of England has dared to repeat. It is little wonder that the British papers 
described him as a bloodthirsty desperado. 

A few weeks later, the captured plate was put up for sale by the prize 
agents. Capt. Jones, though not a rich man, bought it, and returned it to 
the countess. Lord Selkirk, in acknowledging its receipt, wrote, — 

" And on all occasions, both ntnv ant! formerly, I have done you the 
justice to tell that you made an offer of returning the plate very soon 



74 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

after your return to Brest ; and although you yourself were not at my house, 
out remained at the shore with )-our boat, that j-uu had your officers ami 
men in such extraordinary good discipline, that your having given them 
the strictest orders to behave well, — to do no injury of any kind, to make 
no search, but only to bring off what plate was given them, — that in reality 
they did exactly as was ordered ; and that not one man offered to stir from 
his post on the outside of the house, nor entered the doors, nor said an 
uncivil word ; that the two officers stayed not one-quarter of an hour in the 
parlor and in the butler's pantry while the butler got the plate together, 
behaved politely, and asked for nothing but the plate, and instantly marched 
their men off in regular order; and that both officers and men behaved in 
all respects so well, that it would have done credit to the best-disciplined 
troops whatever." 

But the British took little notice of the generous reparation made by 
Capt. Jones, and continued to hurl abuse and hard names at him. 

Jones was vastly disappointed at his failure to capture the person of 
Lord Selkirk. The story of the sufferings of his countrymen in British 
prisons worked upon his heart, and he longed to take captive a personage 
whom he could hold as hostage. But, soon after leaving St. Mary's Isle, he 
fell in again with the British man-of-war " Drake ; " and as a result of this 
encounter he had prisoners enough to exchange for many hapless Americans 
languishing in hulks and prisons. 

After the wind and tide had defeated the midnight attempt made by 
Jones to capture the "Drake," that craft had remained quietly at hei 
anchorage, little suspecting that the bay of Carrickfergus had held so 
dangerous a neighbor. But soon reports of the " Ranger's " depredations 
began to reach the ears of the British captain. The news of the desperate 
raid upon Whitehaven became known to him. He therefore determined 
to leave his snug anchorage, and go in search of the audacious Yankee. 
Just as the captain of the " Drake " had reached this determination, and 
while he was making sail, the " Ranger " appeared off the mouth of the 
harbor. 

The "Drake" promptly sent out a boat to examine the strange craft, 
and report upon her character. Jones saw her coming, and resolved to 
throw her off the scent. Accordingly, by skilful seamanship, he kept the 
stern of the " Ranger " continually presented to the prying eyes in the 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 75 

British boat. Turn which way they might, be as swift in their manceuvres 
as they might, the British scouts coulcl see nothing of the " Ranger " but 
her stern, pierced with two cabin windows, as might be the stern of any 
merchantman. Her sides, dotted with frowning ports, were kept securely 
hidden from their eyes. 

Though provided with spy-glasses, the people in the boat were totally 
deceived. Unsuspectingly they came up under the stern of the " Ranger," 
and demanded to come on board. As the officer in command clambered 
up a rope, and vaulted the taff rail to the quarter-deck, he saw Paul Jones 
and his lieutenants, in full uniform, standing before him. 

"Why, — why, what ship's this .' " stammered the astonished officer. 

"This is the American Continental ship 'Ranger,' and you are my 
prisoner," responded Jones ; and at the words a few sailors, with cutlasses 
and pistols, called to the men in the boat alongside, to come aboard and 
give themselves up. 

From his captives Jones learned that the news of the Whitehaven raid 
had reached the " Drake " only the night before ; and that she had been 
re-enforcing her crew with volunteers, preparatory to going out in search 
of the " Ranger." As he stood talking to the captured British naval 
officer, Jones noticed slender columns of smoke rising from the woods on 
neighboring highlands, where he knew there were no houses. 

" What does that mean .' " he asked. 

" Alarm fires, sir," answered the captive ; " the news of your descent 
upon Whitehaven is terrifying the whole country." 

Soon, however, the attention of the Americans was diverted from the 
signal-fires to the " Drake." An appearance of life and bustle was 
observable about the boat. The shrill notes of the boatswain's whistle, and 
the tramp of men about the capstan, came faintly over the waters. The 
rigging was full of sailors, and the sails were being quickly spread to catch 
the fresh breeze. Soon the ship began to move slowly from her anchorage ; 
she heeled a little to one side, and, responsive to her helm, turned down 
the bay. She was coming out to look after her lost boat. 

Jones determined to hold his ground, and give battle to the Englishman. 
1 le at once began to prepare for battle in every way possible without 
alarming the enemy. The great guns were loaded and primed. Cutlasses 
and pistols were brought up from the armorer's room, and placed in 



76 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

convenient locations on tlie main deck, so that the boarders might find 
them when needed. The powder-monkeys, stripped for action, and the 
handlers and cartridge-makers entered the powder-magazine, and prepared 
to hand out the deadly explosive. The cook and his assistant strewed 
sawdust and ashes about the decks, to catch the blood, and keep the men 
from slipping. Every one was busy, from the captain down to the galley- 
boy. 

There was plenty of time to prep re ; for the tide was out, and the 
" Drake," beating down a narrow channel, made but slow headway. 
The delay was a severe strain upon the nerves of the men, who stood 
silent and grim at their quarters on the American ship, waiting for the 
fight to begin. At such a moment, even the most courageous must lose 
heart, as he thinks upon the terrible ordeal through which he must pass. 
Visions of home and loved ones flit before his misty eyes ; and Jack chokes 
down a sob as he hides his emotion in nervously fingering the lock of 
his gun, or taking a squint through the port-holes at the approaching 
enemy. 

At length the " Drake " emerged from the narrow channel of the 
harbor, and coming within hailing distance of the " Ranger," ran up 
the flag of England, and hailed, — 

" What ship is that .' " 

Paul Jones, himself standing on the taffrail, made answer, — 

" This is the American Continental ship ' Ranger.' We are waiting 
for you. The sun is but little more than an hour from setting. It is 
therefore time to begin." 

The " Drake " lay with her bow towards the " Ranger," and a little 
astern. As Jones finished speaking, he turned to the man at the wheel, 
and said, " Put your helm up. Up, I say ! " 

Quickly responsive to her helm, the vessel swung round ; and, as her 
broadside came to bear, she let fly a full broadside of solid shot into 
the crowded decks and hull of the " Drake." Through timbers and 
planks, flesh and bone, the iron hail rushed, lea\ing death, wounds, and 
destruction in its path. The volunteers that the " Drake " had added 
to her crew so crowded the decks, that the execution was fearful. It 
seemed as though every shot found a human mark. 

But the British were not slow to return the fire, and the roar of 



BLUE-JACRETS OF '76. 11 



their broadside was heard before the thunder of the American fire had 
ceased to reverberate amontj; the hills along the shore. 

Then followed a desperate naval duel. The tide ot victory flowed 
now this way, and now that. Jones kept his ship at close quarters with 
the enemy, and stood on the quarter-deck urging on his gunners, now 
pointing out some vulnerable spot, now applauding a good shot, at one 
time cheering, and at another swearing, watching every movement of his 
foe, and giving quick but wise orders to his helmsman, his whole mind 
concentrated upon the course of battle, and with never a thought for 
his own safety. 

For more than an hour the battle raged, but the superior gunnery of 
the Americans soon began to tell. The " Drake " fought under no colors, 
her ensign having been shot away early in the action. But the spirited 
manner in which her guns were worked gave assurance that she had 
not struck. The American fire had wrought great execution on the decl* 
if the Englishman. Her captain was desperately wounded early in th( 
fight ; and the first lieutenant, who took his place, was struck down by a 
musket-ball from the "Ranger's" tops. The cock-pit of the "Drake" 
was like a butcher's shambles, so bespattered was it with blood. But 
on the " Ranger " there was little execution. The brave Wallingford, 
Jones's first lieutenant and right-hand man, was killed early in the action, 
and one poor fellow accompanied him to his long account ; but beyond 
this there were no deaths. Six men only w,pre wounded. 

The sun was just dipping the lower edge of its great red circle beneath 
the watery horizon, when the "Drake" began to show signs of failing. 
Fust her fire slackened. A few guns would go off at a time, followed 
by a long silence. That portion of her masts which was visible above 
the clouds of gunpowder-smoke showed plainly the results of American 
gunnery. The sails were shot to ribbons. The cordage cut by the 
flying shot hung loosely down, or was blown out by the breeze. The spars 
were shattered, and hung out of place. The mainmast canted to leeward, 
and was in imminent danger of falling. The jib had been shot away 
entirely, and was trailing in the water alongside the ship. 

Gradually the fire of the " Drake " slackened, until at last it had 
ceased altogether. Noticing this, Capt. Jones gave orders to cease firing; 
and soon silence reigned over the bay that had for an hour resounded 



78 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

with the thunder of cannon. As the smoke that enveloped the two ships 
cleared away, the people on the " Ranger " could sec an officer standing 
on the rail of the " Drake " waving a white flag. At the sight a mighty 
huzza went up from the gallant lads on the Yankee ship, which was, 
however, quickly checked by Jones. 

" Have you struck your flag ? " he shouted through a speaking-trumpet. 

"We have, sir," was the response. 

"Then lay by until I send a boat aboard," directed Capt. Jones ; and 
soon after a cutter put off from the side of the " Ranger," and made for 
the captured ship. 

The boarding-officer clambered over the bulwarks of the " Drake," 
and, veteran naval officer as he was, started in amazement at the scene 
of bloodshed before him. He had left a ship on which were two dead and 
six wounded men. He had come to a ship on which were forty men 
either dead or seriously wounded. Two dismounted cannon lay across 
the deck, one resting on the shattered and bleeding fragments of a mar. 
torn to pieces by a heavy shot. The deck was slippery with blood. The 
cock-pit was not large enough to hold all the wounded ; and many sufferers 
lay on the deck crying piteously for aid, and surrounded by the mangled 
bodies of their dead comrades. The body of the captain, who had died 
of his wound, lay on the deserted quarter-deck. 

Hastily the American officer noted the condition of the prize, and 
returned to his own ship for aid. All the boats of the " Ranger " were 
then lowered, and in the growing darkness the work of taking possession 
of the prize began. Most of the prisoners were transferred to the 
" Ranger." The dead were thrown overboard without burial service or 
ceremony of any kind, such is the grim earnestness of war. Such 
of the wounded as coul-' not be taken care of in the sick-bay of the 
"Drake" were transferred to the "Ranger." The decks were scrubbed, 
holystoned, and sprinkled with hot vinegar to take away the smell of 
the blood-soaked planks. Cordage was spliced, sails mended, shot-holes 
plugged up ; and, by the time morning came, the two ships were sufficiently 
repaired to be ready to leave the bay. 

But, before leaving, Capt. Jones set at liberty two fishermen, whom 
he had captured several days before, and held prisoners lest they should 
spread the news of his presence in those parts. While the fishermen 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 79 

had been taken on board the "Ranger," and treated with the utmost 
kindness, their boat had been made fast alongside. Unluckily, however, 
the stormy weather had torn the boat from its fastenings ; and it foundered 
before the eyes of its luckless owners, who bitterly bewailed their hard 
fate as they saw their craft disappear. But, when they came to leave the 
" Ranger," their sorrow was turned to joy ; for Jones gave them money 
enough to buy for them a new boat and outfit, — a bit of liberality 
very characteristic of the man. 

When the " Drake " was in condition to sail, Jones put her in command 
of Lieut. Simpson, and the two vessels left the bay. This choice of 
commander proved to be an unfortunate one. Simpson was in many 
ways a most eccentric officer. He was a violent advocate of equal rights 
of all men, and even went so far as to disbelieve in the discipline without 
which no efficiency can be obtained on ship-board. He was an eighteenth- 
century Sir Joseph Porter. He believed that all questions of importance 
on ship-board should be settled by a vote of the crew ; that the captain 
was, in a certain sense, only perpetual chairman of a meeting, and should 
only execute the will of the sailors. Naturally, this view of an officer's 
authority was little relished by Lieut. Simpson's brother officers, and he 
had for some time been greatly dissatisfied with his position. 

When it came about, therefore, that the " Ranger," seeing a strange 
sail in the offing, left the "Drake" to go in pursuit of the stranger, 
Lieut. Simpson saw his chance to make off with the " Drake," and thus 
rid himself of the disagreeable necessity of submitting to the orders of a 
superior officer. This course he determined to adopt ; and when Jones, 
having overtaken the stranger and found her a neutral, turned to rejoin 
his prize, he was vastly astounded at the evolutions of the "Drake." The 
vessel which he had left in charge of one of his trusted officers seemed 
io be trying to elude him. She was already hull down on the horizon, 
and was carrying every stitch of sail. The "Ranger" signalled to her 
colleague to return, but in vain. Several large ships were in sight ; but 
Jones, perple.xed by the strange antics of his consort, abandoned all 
thoughts of making captures, and made after the rapidly vanishing 
" Drake." 

As the "Ranger" cut through the ugly cross seas of the cliannel, 
Jones revolved in his mind the causes which might lead to the inexplicable 



8o BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



flight of his consort. His chief fear was that the prisoners on the " Drake "■ 
mighv have risen, overpowered their captors, and were then endeavoring 
to tale the ship into a Britisli port. Convinced that tliis was the true 
explanation of the matter, Jones made tremendous efforts to overhaul the 
prize before the night should give her an opportunity to elude pursuit. 
Every thing from jib-boom to main-truck, that would draw, was set on the 
" Ranger ; " and the gallant little vessel ploughed along at a rate that almost 
belied her reputation as a slow craft. After an hour's run, it became 
avident that the " Ranger " was gaining ground. Nevertheless, darkness 
settled over the waters, and the " Drake " was still far in the lead. It was 
not until the next day that the runaway was overhauled. Upon boarding 
the "Drake," Jones found, to his intense indignation, that not to the 
revolt ol the captives, but to the wilful and silly insubordination of Lieut. 
Simpsor, the flight of the captured vessel was due. This officer, feeling 
himself aggrieved by something Jones had said or done, had determined 
to seize upon the " Drake," repair her in some French port, and thence- 
forward to cruise as a privateer. This plan was nipped in the bud by 
Jones, who put the disobedient officer in irons, and carried the "Drake" 
into Bre jt as a prize. 

All Jiurope now rang with the praises of Paul Jones. Looked at in 
the calm light of history, his achievements do not appear so very remarkable. 
But it is none the less true that they have never been paralleled. Before 
the day of Paul Jones, no hostile vessel had ever swept the English 
Channel and Irish Sea clear of British merchantmen. And since the 
day of Pj ul Jones the exploit has never been repeated, save by the little 
American brig "Argus" in the War of 1812. But neither before nor 
since the day of Paul Jones has the spectacle of a British ship in an 
English ])ort, blazing with fire applied by the torches of an enemy, been 
seen. A; id no other man than Paul Jones has, for several centuries, led an 
mvading force down the level highways, and across the green fields, of 
England. 



Yr)3 



-«e^1|i^>c«^ 




rsimiDTTTs, 




CHAPTER VIII. 



THE CAREER OF PAUL JONES CONTINUED. — HIS 
SEARCH FOR A SHIP. — GIVEN COMMAND OF THE 
" BON HOMME RICHARD." — LANDAIS AND HIS 
CHARACTER.— THE FRUSTRATED MUTINY. —LAN- 
DAIS QUARRELS WITH JONES. — EDINBURGH AND 
LEITH THREATENED. — THE DOMINIE'S PRAYER. 




HEN Paul Jones arrived at Brest, bringing the captured Drake, 
he found the situation of affairs materially altered. F"rance had 
acknowledged the independence of the American Colonics, and 
had openly espoused their cause as against that of Great 
Britain. It was no longer necessary to resort to cunning deceptions to 
buy a warship or sell a prize in a French port. French vessels, manned 
by French crews and commanded by French officers, were putting to 
sea to strike a blow against the British. French troops were being sent 
to America. The stars and stripes waved by the side of the flcur de 
lys ; and Benjamin Franklin, the American envoy, was the lion of French 
society, and the idol of the Parisian mob. 

Paul Jones saw in this friendship of P^rance for the struggling colonies 
his opportunity. Heretofore he had been condemned to command only 
slow-going, weak ships. He had been hamperctl by a lack of funds 
for the payment of his crew and the purchase of provisions. Rloie than 
once the inability of the impoverished Continental Congress to provitle 
the sinews of war had forced him to go down into his own purse for 
the necessary funds. All this period of penury he now felt was past. 
He could rely upon the king of France for a proper vessel, and the 
funds with which to prosecute his work on the seas. Accordingly, when 
the "Ranger" was again ready for sea, he turned her over to the 
5 8i 



BLUE-JACKETS OF "76. 



insubordinate Lieut. Simpson, while he himself remained in France with 
tiSe expectation of being provided with a better ship. 

But the sturdy seaman soon found how vexatious is the lot of him 
who depends upon the bounty of monarchs. Ship after ship was put 
in commission, but no command was tendered to the distinguished 
American. The French naval officers had first to be attended to. Jones 
made earnest appeals to the minister of the marine. He brought every 
possible influence to bear. His claims were urged by Dr. Franklin, but 
all to no avail. At last an appointment came. It was to command an 
English prize, lately captured and brought into Brest. Thither went 
Jones to examine the craft. Much to his disappointment, he found her 
very slow ; and this determined him to decline the commission. 

"I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast," 
he wrote to a gentleman who had secured for him the appointment ; 
"for I intend to go in harm's way. You know I believe that this is 
not every one's intention. Therefore, buy a frigate that sails fast, and 
that is sufficiently large to carry twenty-six or twenty-eight guns, not less 
than twelve-pounders, on one deck. I would rather be shot ashore than 
sent to sea in such things as the armed prizes I have described." 

Five months of waiting and ceaseless solicitation of the authorities 
still left the sailor, who had won so many victories, stranded in shameful 
inactivity. He had shrunk from a personal interview with the king, 
trusting rather to the efforts of his friends, many of whom were in high 
favor at Versailles. But one day he happened to light upon an old copy 
of "Poor Richard's Almanac," that unique pulolication in which Benjamin 
Franklin printed so many wise maxims and witty sayings. As Jones 
listlessly turned its pages, his eye fell upon the maxim, — 

"If you wish to have any ' usiness done faithfully and expeditiously, 
go and do it yourself. Otherwise, send some one." 

Shutting the book, and dashing it to the floor, Jones sprang to his 
feet exclaiming, "I will go to Versailles this very day." Before night 
he set out, and soon reached the royal court. His reputation easily 
gained him an interview ; and his frank, self-reliant way so impressed the 
monarch, that in five days the American was tendered the command of 
the ship " Daras," mounting forty guns. 

Great was the exultation of the American seaman at this happy terrai- 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 83^ 



nation of his labor. Full of gratitude to the distinguished philosopher 
whose advice had proved so effective, he wrote to the minister of marine, 
begging permission to change tlu; name of the vessel to the " Poor 
Richard," or, translated into French, the "Bon Homme Richard." Per- 
mission was readily granted; and thereafter the "Bon Homme Richard," 
with Paul Jones on the quarter-deck, did valiant work for the cause of 
the young American Republic. 

The "Bon Homme Richard" was lying in the harbor of I'Orient 
when Jones visited her to examine his new ship He found her a fairly 
well modelled craft, giving promise of being a good sailer. She had one 
of the high pitched poops that were so common in the early part of 
the last century, and that gave to the sterns of ships of that period the 
appearance of lofty towers. Originally she was a single-decked ship, 
mounting her battery on one gun-deck, with the exception of a few 
cannon on the cjuarter-deck and forecastle. The gun-deck mounted 
twenty-eight guns, all twelve-pounders. On the quarter-deck and fore- 
castle were eight long nines. To this armament Jones at once added 
si.x eighteen-pounders, which were mounted in the gun-room below. 

To man this vessel, Jones was obliged to recruit a most motley crew. 
I""ew American seamen were then in France, and he considered himself 
fortunate to find enough to fill the stations of officers on the quarter- 
deck and forward. For his crew proper he was forced to accept an 
undisciplined crowd of Portuguese, Norwegians, Germans, Spaniards, 
Swedes, Italians, Malays, Scotch, Irish, and even a few Englishmen. 
About a hundred and thirty-five marines were put aboard to keep order 
among this rabble ; and, even with this aid to discipline, it is wonderful 
that no disturbance ever broke out in a crew that was made up of so 
many discordant elements. 

While the " Bon Homme Richard " was being made ready for sea, 
the vessels that were to sail with her as consorts were making for the 
rendezvous at I'Orient. These vessels were the "Pallas," "Cerf," "Ven- 
geance," and "Alliance." The three former were small vessels, built in 
France, and manned wholly by Frenchmen. The "Alliance" was a 
powerful, well-built American frigate, carrying an American crew, but 
commanded by a P>ench officer, — Capt. Landais. This vessel was the 
last to arrive at the rendezvous, as she had a stormy and somewhat 
eventful trip across the ocean. 



cS4 BLUR-JACKETS OF '76. 



The "Alliance" was a thirty-two gun frigate, built under the super- 
vision of the American Marine Committee, and which had come to 
European waters, bringing as a passenger the distinguished Gen. 
Lafayette. As has been stated, she was under the command of a French 
naval officer, to whom the command had been offered as a compliment to 
France. Unfortunately the jack tars of America were not so anxious 
to compliment France, and looked with much disfavor upon the prospect 
of serving under a Frenchman. Capt. Landais, therefore, found great 
difficulty in getting a crew to man his frigate ; and when Lafayette 
reached Boston, ready to embark for France, the roster of the ship in 
which he was to sail was still painfully incomplete. Great was the mortifi- 
cation of the American authorities ; and the government of Massachusetts, 
desiring to aid the distinguished Frenchman in every way, offered to 
complete by impressment. It is vastly to the credit of Lafayette that 
he refused for a moment to countenance a method of recruiting so 
entirely in opposition to those principles of liberty to which he was 
devoted. But, though impressment was not resorted to, a plan hardly 
less objectionable was adopted. The British man-of-war " Somerset " had 
been wrecked on the New England coast some time before, and many of her 
crew were then in Bo.ston. These men volunteered to join the crew of 
the "Alliance," though by so doing they knew that they were likely to be 
forced to fight against their own flag and countrymen. But the ties of 
nationality bear lightly upon sailors, and these men were as ready to 
fight under the stars and stripes as under the cross of St. George. 

With a crew made up of Americans, Englishmen, and Frenchmen, the 
"Alliance" put to sea in the early part of January, 1779. It was the most 
stormy season of the year on the tempestuous Atlantic. But the storms 
which racked the good ship from without were as nothing to the 
turbulence within. In the forecastle were three different elements of 
discord. British, French, and Americans quarrelled bitterly among them- 
selves, and the jackies went about their work with a sullen air that 
betokened trouble brewing. 

The officers suspected the impending trouble, but had little idea of its 
e.Ktent. They were living over a volcano which was liable to burst forth 
at any moment. The Englishmen in the crew, who numbered some seventy 
or eighty, had determined to mutiny, and had perfected all their plans for 



blue-jacki:ts of '76. 85 

the uprising. Their intention was not only to seize the ship, and take 
her into an English port, hut they proposed to wreak their hatred in the 
bloodiest form upon the officers. Capt. Landais, as the special object of 
their hate, was to be put into an open boat without food, water, oars, or 
sails. Heavy irons were to bind his wrists and ankles, and he was to be 
set adrift to starve on the open ocean. The fate of the surgeon and marine 
officer was to be equally hard. They were to be hanged and quartered, and 
their bodies cast into the sea. The sailing-master was to be seized up to 
the mizzen-mast, stripped to the waist, and his back cut to pieces with the 
cat-of-nine-tails ; after which he was to be slowly hacked to pieces with 
cutlasses, and thrown into the sea. The gunner, carpenter, and boatswain 
were to be mercifully treated. No torture was prepared for them, but they 
were to be promptly put to death. As to the lieutenants, they were to be 
given the choice between navigating the ship to the nearest British port, 
or walking the plank. 

This sanguinary programme the mutineers discussed day and night. 
The ringleaders were in the same watch, and in the silent hours of the 
night matured their plans, and picked out men whom they thought would 
join them. One by one they cautiously chose their associates. The sailor 
whom the mutineers thought was a safe man would be led quietly apart 
from his fellows to some secluded nook on the gun-deck ; and there, with 
many pledges to secrecy, the plot would be revealed, and his assistance 
asked. Or perhaps of two men out on the end of a tossing yard-arm, 
far above the raging waters, one would be a mutineer, and would take that 
opportunity to try to win his fellow sailor to the cause. So the mutiny 
spread apace ; and the volcano was almost ready to burst forth, when all 
was discovered, and the plans of the mutineers were happily defeated. 

The conspirators had succeeded in gaining the support of all the English- 
men in the crew, as well as many of the sailors of other nationalities. So 
numerous were their adherents, that they were well able to capture the 
ship ; but before so dofng they .sought to gain one more recruit. This 
man was an American .sailor, who had lived long in Ireland, and spoke 
with a slight brogue, that led the conspirators to think him a subject of 
the king, and an enemy to the revolted colonies. This man was known 
to have some knowledge of navigation, and the mutineers felt that his 
assistance would be essential to the success of their plot. Though they 



86 BLUE-JACKETS OF "76. 



had planned to force the lieutenant, under penalty of death, to navigate 
the vessel into a British port, they had no means of telling whether the 
lieutenant should play them false. It would be an easy matter for 
an officer to take the ship into a French port, where the lives of the 
conspirators should pay the penalty of their misdeeds. Accordingly, it 
was highly important for them to number among them some one versed 
in the science of navigation ; and, with this end in view, they turned to 
the young Irish-American. 

The young seaman proved to be possessed of the loyalty and 
shrewdness of the Yankee, together with a touch of the blarney of the 
genuine Irishman. He listened to the complaints of the mutineers, 
sympathized with their grievances, entered heartily into their plans, and 
by his apparent interest in the conspiracy soon became looked upon as 
one of the chief ringleaders. 

Ho Icirned that the plan of the conspirators was to assemble on 
deck about daylight on a certain day when one of the conspirators 
~«l^.ould be posted in the tops as lookout. This man was to raise the cry 
oi " Sail, ho ! " when the officers and passengers would of course come 
to the quarter-deck unarmed. The mutineers would commence operations 
by seizing them in a bod}-. Then, separating into foui parties, the 
conspirators would seize upon the ship. On the forecastle were mounted 
four nine-pound guns. These were usually kept charged with blank 
cartridge only ; but a gunner's mate, who was one of the ringleaders, had 
quietly slipped a charge of canister into each gun. Should the officers 
show signs of resistance, these cannon wore to be trained aft, and the 
quarter-deck swept by their discharge. Discipline on a man-of-war 
requires that the crew should be kept disarmed, except in time of battle; 
the cutlasses, pikes, and pistols being given over to the armorer. But a 
sergeant of marines had done the cause of the mutineers good service, 
by purloining some muskets, and handing them over to the ringleaders. 

Having thus gained full knowledge of the plans of the mutineers, 
the loyal seaman sought the first opportunity to warn the officers of the 
ship. But not until three o'clock on the afternoon before the day set 
for the mutiny could he manage to slip into the captain's cabin unseen 
bv the conspirators. Landais and Lafayette were seated there talking. 

'• Well, what's wanted now .' " asked the captain in the peremptory 
tone officers assume in speaking to a sailor. 



BLUK-JACKirrS OF '76. 87 

The intruder stammered and looked confused, but finally managed to 
tell the story. Landais was amazed. That so dangerous a conspiracy 
should have been nurtured in his crew, astonished him bcyonil expression. 
But he wasted no time in vain conjectures. Quietly the word wa- 
passed to the officers and passengers to assemble in the captain's cabin 
Some trusty petty officers were given arms to distribute among the 
American and French seamen who had not been infected with the 
fever of mutiny. At a given signal the officers and passengers rushed 
to the quarter-deck. The American and French seamen joined them ; 
and the conspirators suddenly found themselves confronted by an angry 
body of determined men, fully armed. 

The leading mutineers were pointed out b\' the informer, instantly 
seized, and hurried below in irons. Then the work of arresting the 
other conspirators began, and was continued until about forty of the 
English were in irons. While the work was progressing, a square- 
rigged ship hove in sight, and was soon made out to be one of the 
enemy's twenty-gun ships. Under ordinary circumstances, the " Alliance " 
would have sought to give battle to the enemy ; but in the present 
instance, with mutiny rife among his crew, Capt. Landais thought it his 
wisest course to avoid the stranger. A few days later, the "Alliance" 
arrived at Brest, where the mutineers were thrown into jail, and kept 
in close confinement, until exchanged for American prisoners in the 
hands of the British. 

But to return to Paul Jones, whom we left with the " Bon Homme 
Richard" lying at anchor in the harbor of I'Oricnt waiting for the 
arrival of his allies. On the 19th of June, 1779, all were ready to sail, 
and left the harbor with a few coasters and transports under convoy. 
The "Bon Homme Richard" was the largest vessel of the little fleet; 
next came the "Alliance," under command of Capt. Landais; then the 
"Pallas," an old merchantman hastily remodelled, and mounting thirty- 
two guns; then the "Cerf" with eighteen guns, and the "Vengeance" 
with twelve. Though not a very formidable armada, this little fleet might 
have done great good to the American cause, had Paul Jones been given 
proper authority, and had his daring plans been countenanced by the 
French authorities. But, though nominally commander-in-chief, Jones 
soon found that he had no means of enforcing his authoritv. lie found 



88 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

that the three Frenchmen in command of the other vessels of the 
squadron looked upon him as a partner in the enterprise, rather than as a 
leader with absolute authority. They paid no heed to the signals set at 
the fore of the flagship. They wilfully disobeyed orders. Worse than 
all, they proved to be poor seamen ; and the squadron had hardly got into 
blue water before the "Alliance" was run foul of the "Richard," losing 
her own mizzen-mast, and tearing away the head and bowsprit of the flag- 
ship. Thus, after long months of preparation for sea, Jones found himself 
forced to return to port to refit. It has been charged that this accident 
was not altogether accidental, so far as the " Alliance " was concerned. 
Landais, the commander of that vessel, hated Jones, and was insanely- 
jealous of the man who outranked him. The collision was only the 
first of a series of mishaps, all of which Landais ascribed to accident, but 
which unprejudiced readers must confess seem to have been inspired by 
malice or the results of gross incompetence. 

A few days sufficed to repair all damage, and again the vessels sought 
the open sea. When two days out, a strange sail was sighted. Jones 
crowded all sail on the " Richard," and set out in hot pursuit, but found, 
to his bitter disappointment, that his ship was a wretchedly slow sailer. 
Therefore, signalling to the swift-sailing "Cerf" to follow the stranger, 
he abandoned the chase to the smaller craft. All night long the cutter 
followed in the wake of the stranger, and when day broke the two vessels 
were near enough to each other to readily make out each other's character. 
The stranger proved to be a small English cruiser of fourteen guns. Her 
captain was no poltroon ; for as soon as he discovered that the ship from 
which he had been trying to escape was but little larger than his own, he 
came about, and, running down upon the " Cerf," opened fire. The action 
was a sharp one. The two vessels were fairly matched and well fought. 
The thunder of their broadsides resounded far and wide over the 
Dcean. For an hour they grappled in deadly strife. The tide of battle 
turned now to one side, and now to the other. But at last the superior 
metal of the "Cerf" won for her the victory. With her battered prize in 
tow, she sought to rejoin the squadron, but unluckily fell in with a Britisl; 
frigate that had been attracted by the sound of the cannonading. It was 
useless to think of saving the prize : so the " Cerf " abandoned it, and 
after a hard chase escaped, and put into the harbor of I'Oricnt. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



In the mean time, the squadron had become separated ; and, after a 
fortnight's fruitless cruising, all the vessels returned to I'Orient. Here 
they lay until the middle of August. More than three months had passed 
since Jones had been given command of the "Richard." Most of the 
time had been spent in port. The little cruising that had been done had 
been unproductive of results. Dissension and jealousy made the squadron 
absolutely ineffective. As for the "Bon Homme Richard," she had 
proved a failure; being unable to overhaul the enemy that she wished to 
engage, or escape from the man-of-war she might wish to avoid. Jones 
saw his reputation fast slipping away from him. Bitterly he bewailed the 
fate that had put him at the mercy of a lot of quarrelsome Frenchmen. 
He determined that when once again he got to sea he would ignore his 
consorts, and fight the battles of his country with his own ship only. 

It was on the 14th of August that the squadron weighed anchor, and 
left the harbor of I'Orient. The "Richard" was greatly strengthened 
by the addition to her crew of about one hundred American seamen, 
who had been sent to France from England in exchange for a number 
of English prisoners. With her sailed the same vessels that had previ- 
ously made up the squadron, together with two French privateers, — the 
"Monsieur" and the "Granville." Four days after sailing, a large French 
ship in charge of a British prize-crew was sighted. The whole squadron 
gave chase ; and the " Monsieur," being the swiftest sailer of the fleet, 
recaptured the prize. Then arose a quarrel. The privateersmen claimed 
that the prize was theirs alone. They had captured it, and the regular 
naval officers had no authority over them. To this Capt. Jones vigorously 
demurred, and, taking the prize from its captors, sent it to I'Orient to be 
disposed of in accordance with the laws. In high dudgeon, the privateers 
vowed vengeance, and that night the "Monsieur" left the squadron. 
She was a fine, fast vessel, mounting forty guns ; and her departure 
greatly weakened the fleet. 

A few days later a second serious loss was encountered. The fleet 
was lying off Cape Clear, only a few miles from the shore. The day 
was perfectly calm. Not a breath of wind ruffled the calm surface of 
the water. The sails flapped idly against the mast. The sailors lay 
about the decks, trying to keep cool, and lazily watching the distant 
shore. Far off in the distance a white sail glimmered on the horizon. 



90 BLUE-JACKRTS OF '76. 

It showed no sign of motion, and was clearly becalmed. After some 
deliberation, Capt. Jones determined to attempt to capture the stranger 
by means of boats. The two largest boats, manned with crews of picked 
men, were sent out to hail the vessel, and, if she proved to be an enemy, 
to capture her. In this they were successful, and returned next day, 
bringing the captured craft. 

But, while the two boats were still out after the enemy's ship, the tide 
changed ; and Capt. Jones soon saw that his ship was in danger from a 
powerful current, that seemed to be sweeping her on shore. A few hundred 
yards from the ship, two dangerous reefs, known as the Skallocks and 
the Blasketts, reared their black heads above the calm surface of the sea. 
Toward these rocks the " Bon Homme Richard " was drifting, when 
Jones, seeing the danger, ordered out two boats to tow the ship to a less 
perilous position. As the best men of the crew had been sent away to 
capture the brig, the crews of the two boats were made up of the riff-raff 
of the crew. Many of them were Englishmen, mere mercenary sailors, 
whi) had shipped on the Richard, secretly intending to desert at the first 
opportunity. Therefore, when night fell, as they were still in the boats 
trying to pull the " Richard's " head around, they cut the ropes and made 
off for the shore. 

The desertion was discovered immediately. The night was clear, and 
by the faint light of the stars the course of the receding boats could be 
traced. The sailing-master of the " Richard," a Mr. Trent, being the first 
to discover the treachery, sprang into a boat with a few armed men, and 
set out in hot pursuit. The bow -gun of the "Richard" was hastily 
trained on the deserters, and a few cannon-shot sent after them ; but 
without effect. Before the pursuing boat could overhaul the fugitives, a 
dense bank of gray fog settled over the water, and pursued and pursuers 
were hidden from each other and from the gaze of those on the man-of-war. 
All night long the fog, like a moist, impenetrable curtain, rested on the 
ocean. The next day the " Cerf " set out to find the missing boats. As 
she neared the shore, to avoid raising an alarm, she hoisted British colors 
Hardly had she done so when she was seen by Trent and his companions. 
The fog made the outlines of the cutter indistinct, and magnified her in 
the eyes of the Americans, so that they mistook her for an English 
man-of-war. To avoid what they thought would lead to certain capture 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 9 1 

on the water, they ran their boat ashore, and speedily fell into the hands 
of the British coast guard. They were at once thrown into prison, where 
the unfortunate Trent soon died. The rest of the party were exchanged 
later in the war. 

The loss of the boats, and capture of Mr. Trent and his followers, were 
not the only unfortunate results of this incident ; for the " Cerf " became 
lost in the fog, and before she could rejoin the fleet a violent gale sprang 
up, and she was carried back to the coast of France. She never again 
returned to join the fleer, and Jones found his force again depleted. 

But the effective force of the squadron under the command of Paul 
Jones was weakened far more by the eccentric and mutinous actions of 
Capt. Landais of the "Alliance" than by any losses by desertion or 
capture. When the news of the loss of two boats by desertion reached the 
" Alliance," Landais straightway went to the " Richard," and entering 
the cabin began to upbraid Jones in unmeasured terms for having lost 
two boats through his folly in sending boats to capture a brig. 

" It is not true, Capt. Landais," answered Jones, " that the boats 
which are lost are the two which were sent to capture the brig." 

" Do you tell me I lie .' " screamed the Frenchman, white with anger. 
His officers strove to pacify him, but without avail ; and he left the 
" Richard " vowing that he would challenge Capt. Jones, and kill him. 
Shortly thereafter the "Richard" captured a very valuable prize, — a ship 
mounting twenty-two guns, and loaded with sails, rigging, anchors, cables, 
and other essential articles for the navy Great Britain was building on 
the Lakes. By desertion and other causes, the crew of the " Richard " 
was greatly depleted, and not enough men could be spared to man the prize. 
Jones applied to Landais for aid. In response the Frenchman said, — 

"If it is your wish that I should take charge of the prize, I shall not 
allow any boat or any individual from the 'Bon Homme Richard' to go 
near her." 

To this absurd stipulation Jones agreed. Landais, having thus assumed 
complete charge of the prize, showed his incompetence by sending her, 
together with a prize taken by the "Alliance," to Bergen in Norway, 
The Danish Government, being on friendly terms with England, immedi- 
ately surrendered the vessels to the British ambassador; and the cause of 
the young republic was cheated of more than two hundred thousand 
dollars through the insane negligence of the French captain. 



92 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



Ever thereafter, Landais manifested the most insolent indifference to the 
orders of Capt. Jones, to whom, as his superior officer, he should render 
implicit obedience. He came and went as he saw fit. The " Alliance " 
would disappear from the squadron, and return again after two or three 
days' absence, without apology or e.xplanation. Jones soon learned to look 
with indifference upon the antics of his consort, and considered his squadron 
as composed of the "Richard," "Vengeance," and "Pallas" only. 

On the iSth of September, the three vessels lay off the port of Leith, 
a thriving city, which was then, as now, the seaport for the greater 
city of Edinburgh, which stands a little farther inland. Jones had come 
to this point cheri,shing one of those daring plans of which his mind 
was so fertile. He had learned that the harbor was full of shipping, 
and defended only by a single armed vessel of twenty guns. Shore 
batteries there were none. The people of the town were resting in 
fancied security, and had no idea that the dreaded Paul Jones was at 
their very harbor's mouth. It would have been an easy matter for the 
three cruisers to make a dash into the harbor, take some distinguished 
prisoners, demand a huge ransom, fire the shipping, and escape again 
to the open sea. Had Jones been in reality, as he was in name, the 
commander of the little fleet, the exploit would have been performed. 
But the lack of authority which had hampered him throughout his 
cruise paralyzed him here. By the time he had overcome the timid 
objections of the captains of the "Vengeance" and the "Pallas," all 
Leith was aroused. Still Jones persevered. His arrangements were 
carefully perfected. Troops were to be landed under command of Lieut. - 
Col. Chamillard, who was to lay before the chief magistrate of the town 
the following letter, written by Jones himself : — 

" I do not wish to distress the poor inhabitants. My intention is 
only to demand your contribution toward the reimbursement which 
Britain owes to the much injured citizens of America. Savages would 
blush at the unmanly violation and rapacity that have marked the tracks 
of British tyranny in America, from which neither virgin innocence nor 
helpless age has been a plea of protection or pity. 

" Leith and its port now lay at our mercy. And did not the plea of 
humanity stay the just hand of retaliation, I should without advertisement 
lay it in ashes. Before I proceed to that stern duty as an officer, my 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 93 

duty as a man induces mc to propose to you, by means of a reasonable 
ransom, to prevent such a scene of horror and distress. For this reason, 
I have authorized Licut.-Col. de Chamillard to agree with you on the 
terms of ransom, allowing you exactly half an hour's reflection before 
you finally accept or reject the terms which he shall propose." 

The landing parties having been chosen, the order of attack mapped 
out. and part to be taken by each boat's-crew accurately defined, the 
three vessels advanced to the attack. It was a bright Sunday 
morning. A light breeze blowing on shore wafted the three vessels 
gently along the smooth surface of the bay. It is said that as the 
invaders passed the little town of Kirkaldy, the people were at church, 
but, seeing the three men-of-war passing, deserted the sacred edifice for 
the beach, where the gray-haired pastor, surrounded by his flock, offered 
the following remarkable appeal to the Deity : — 

''Now, dear Lord, dinna ye think it a shame for ye to send this 
vile pirate to rob our folk o' Kirkaldy .' Ye ken that they are puir 
enow already, and hae naething to spare. The way the wmd blaw, 
he'll be here in a jiffy. And wha kens what he may do.' He's nae toj 
good for ony thing. Mickles the mischief he has done already. He'll 
burn their hooses, take their very claes, and strip them to the very 
sark. And waes me, wha kens but that the bluidy villain might tak' 
their lives ! The puir weemin are most frightened out of their wits, and 
the bairns screeching after them. I canna think of it ! I canna think 
of it! 

" I hae long been a faithful servant to ye, O Lord. But gin ye dinna 
turn the wind about, and blaw the scoundrel out of our gate, I'll nae stir 
a foot, but will just sit here till the tide comes. Sae tak' your will o't." 

Never was prayer more promptly answered. Hardly had the pastor 
concluded his prayer, when the wind veered round, and soon a violent 
gale was blowing off shore. In the teeth of the wind, the ships could 
make no headway. The gale increased in violence until it rivalled in 
fierceness a tornado. The sea was lashed into fury, and great waves 
arose, on the crests of which the men-of-war were tossed about like 
fragile shells. The coal-ship which had been captured was so racked and 
torn by the heavy seas, that her scams opened, and she foundered so 
speedily, that only by the most active efforts was her crew saved. 



94 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



After several hours' ineffectual battling with the gale, the ships were 
forced to come about and run out to sea ; and Jones suffered the 
mortification of witnessing the failure of his enterprise, after having been 
within gunshot of the town that he had hoped to capture. As for the 
good people of Kirkaldy, they were convinced that their escape from 
the daring seamen was wholly due to the personal influence of their pastor 
with the Deity ; and the worthy parson lived long afterward, ever held in 
the most mighty veneration by the people of his flock. 





CHAPTER IX. 

CAREER OF PAUL JONES CONXLUDED. — THE 
BATTLE BETWEEN THE '■ BON HOMME RICH- 
ARD" AND THE "SERAPIS." — TREACHERY Of 
LANDAIS.— JONES'S GREAT VICTORY. — LAN- 
DAIS STEALS THE " ALLIANCE." — JONES IN 
COMMAND OF THE "ARIEL." — THE "ARIEL" 
IN THE STORM. -ARRIVAL IN AMERICA, 



SOFTER this adventure, the three vessels continued their cruise 
^/■^ty' along- the eastern coast of Scotland. Continued good fortune, in 
the way of prizes, rather soothed the somewhat chafed feelings 
of Capt. Jones, and he soon recovered from the severe disap- 
pointment caused by the failure of his attack upon Leith. He found 
good reason to believe that the report of his exploits had spread far and 
wide in England, and that British sea-captains were using every precaution 
to avoid encountering him. British vessels manifested an extreme disincli- 
nation to come within hailing distance of any of the cruisers, although 
all three were so disguised that it seemed impossible to make out their 
warlike character. One fleet of merchantmen that caught sight of the 
"Bon Homme Richard" and the "Pallas" ran into the River Humber, 
to the mouth of which they were pursued by the two men-of-war. 
Lying at anchor outside the bar, Jones made signal for a pilot, keeping 
the British flag flying at his peak. Two pilot-boats came out ; and Jones, 
assuming the character of a British naval officer, learned from them, that, 
besides the merchantmen lying at anchor in the river, a British frigate 
lay there waiting to convoy a fleet of merchantmen to the north. 
Jones tried to lure the frigate out with a signal that the pilots revealed to 
him ; but, though she weighed anchor, she was driven back by strong head- 
winds that were blowing. Disappijinted in this plan, Jones continued his 

95 



96 BLUE-jACKF<:rS OF '76. 

cruise. Soon after he fell in with the "Alliance" and the "Vengeance;" 
and, while off Flamborough Head, the little squadron encountered a fleet 
of forty-one merchant ships, that, at the sight of the dreaded Yankee 
cruisers, crowded together like a flock of frightened pigeons, aftd made 
all sail for the shore; while two stately men-of-war — the " Serapis, forty- 
four," and the " Countess of Scarborough, twenty-two " — moved forwartl 
to give battle to the Americans. 

Jones now stood upon the threshold of his greatest victory. His 
bold and chivalric mind had longed for battle, and recoiled from the less 
glorious pursuit of burning helpless merchantmen, and terrorizing small 
towns and villages. He now saw before him a chance to meet the 
enemy in a fair fight, muzzle to muzzle, and with no overpowering odds 
on cither side. Although the Americans had si.x vessels to the English- 
men's two, the odds were in no wise in their favor. Two of the vessels 
were pilot-boats, which, of course, kept out of the battle. The "Ven- 
geance," though ordered to render the larger vessels any possible 
assistance, kept out of the fight altogether, and even neglected to make 
my attempt to overhaul the flying band of merchantmen. As for the 
" Alliance," under the erratic Landais, she only entered the conflict at 
the last moment ; and then her broadsides, instead of being delivered 
into the enemy, crashed through the already shattered sides of the " Bon 
Homme Richard." Thus the actual combatants were the "Richard" with 
forty guns, against the "Serapis" with forty-four; and the "Pallas" 
with twenty-two guns, against the " Countess of Scarborough " with 
twenty-two. 

It was about seven o'clock in the evening of a clear September day — ' 
the twenty-third — that the hostile vessels bore down upon each other, 
making rapid preparations for the impending battle. The sea was fast 
turning gray, as the deepening twilight robbed the sky of its azure hue. 
A brisk breeze was blowing, that filled out the bellying sails of the ships, 
and beat the waters into little waves capped with snowy foam. In the west 
the rosy tints of the autumnal sunset were still warm in the sky. Nature 
was in one of her most smiling moods, as these men with set faces, and 
,earts throbbing with the mingled emotions of fear and excitement, stood 
silent at their guns, or worked busily at the ropes of the great war-ships. 

As soon as he became convince. 1 of the character of the two Enfrlish 



blue-;ackets of '76. 97 

ships, Jones beat his crew to quarters, and signalled his consorts to form 
in line of battle. The people on the " Richard " went cheerfully to theiv 
guns ; and though the ship was extremely short-handed, and crowded with 
prisoners, no voice was raised against giving immediate battle to the 
enemy. The actions of the other vessels of the American fleet, however, 
gave little promise of any aid from that quarter. When the enemy was 
first sighted, the swift-sailing "Alliance" dashed forward to reconnoitre. 
As she passed the " Pallas," Landais cried out, that, if the stranger proved 
to be a forty-four, the only course for the Americans was immediate 
flight. Evidently the result of his investigations convinced him that 
in flight lay his only hope of safety ; for he quickly hauled off, and stood 
away from the enemy. The " Vengeance," too, ran off to windward, 
leaving the " Richard " and the " Pallas " to bear the brunt of battle. 

It was by this time quite dark, and the position of the ships was out- 
lined by the rows of open portholes gleaming with the lurid light of the 
battle-lanterns. On each ship rested a stillness like that of death itself. 
The men stood at their guns silent and thoughtful. Sweet memories 
of home and loved ones mingled with fearful anticipations of death or of 
mangling wounds in the minds of each. The little lads whose duty in 
time of action it was to carry cartridges from the magazine to the gunners 
had ceased their boyish chatter, and stood nervously at their stations. 
Officers walked up and down the decks, speaking words of encouragement 
to the men, glancing sharply at primers and breechings to see that all 
was ready, and ever and anon stooping to peer through the porthole at 
the line of slowly moving lights that told of the approach of the enemy. 
On the quarter-deck, Paul Jones, with his officers about him, stood care- 
fully watching the movements of the enemy through a night glass, giving 
occasionally a quiet order to the man at the wheel, and now and then 
sending an agile midshipman below with orders to the armorer, or aloft 
with orders for the sharp-shooters posted in the tops. 

As the night came on, the wind died away to a gentle breeze, that 
hardly ruffled the surface of the water, and urged the ships toward each 
other but sluggishly. As they came within , pistol-shot of each other, 
bow to bow, and going on opposite tacks, a hoarse cry came from the 
deck of the " Scrapis," — 

"What ship is that.'" 



bluh:-jackets of '76. 



"What is that you say?" 

"What ship is that? Answer immccliatcly, or I shall fire into you." 

Instantly with a flash and roar both vessels opened fire. The thunder 
of the broadsides reverberated over the waters ; and the bright flash of 
the cannon, together with the pale light of the moon just rising, showed 
Flamborough Head crowded with multitudes who had come out to witness 
the grand yet awful spectacle of a naval duel. 

The very first broadside seemed enough to wreck the fortunes of 
the "Richard." In her gun-room were mounted si.\ long eighteens, the 
only guns she carried that were of sufficient weight to be matched 
against the heavy ordnance of the " Serapis." At the very first discharge, 
two of these guns burst with frightful violence. Huge masses of iron 
>vere hurled in every direction, cutting through beams and stanchions, 
crashing through floors and bulkheads, and tearing through the agonized 
bodies of the men who served the guns. Hardly a man who was sta- 
tioned in the gun-room escaped unhurt in the storm of iron and splinters. 
Several huge blocks of iron crashed through the upper deck, injuring 
the people on the deck above, and causing the cry to be raised, that 
the magazine had blown up. This unhappy calamity not only rendered 
useless the whole battery of eighteen-pounders, thus forcing Jones to 
fight an eighteen-pounder frigate with a twelve-pounder battery, but it 
spread a panic among the men, who saw the dangers of explosion added 
to the peril they were in by reason of the enemy's continued fire. 

Jones himself left the quarter-deck, and rushed forward among the 
men, cheering them on, and arousing them to renewed activity by his 
exertions. Now he would lend a hand at training some gun, now pull 
at a rope, or help a lagging powder-monkey on his way. His pluck and 
enthusiasm infused new life into the men ; and they threw the heavy 
guns about like playthings, and cheered loudly as each shot told. 

The two ships were at no time separated by a greater distance than 
half a pistol-shot, and were continually manoeuvring to cross each 
others' bows, and get in a raking broadside. In this attempt, they 
crossed from one to the other side of each other; so that now the port 
and now the starboard battery would be engaged. From the shore these 
evolutions were concealed under a dense cloud of smoke, and the 
spectators could only see the tops of the two vessels moving slowly 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 99 

about before the light breeze ; while the lurid flashes of the cannon, and 
constant thunder of the broadsides, told of the deadly work going on. 
At a little distance were the " Countess of Scarborough " and the 
" Pallas," linked in deadly combat, and adding the roar of their cannon 
to the general turmoil. It seemed to the watchers on the heights that 
war was coming very close to England. 

The " Serapis " first succeeded in getting a raking position; and, as 
she slowly crossed her antagonist's bow, her guns were fired, loaded again, 
and again discharged, — the heavy bolts crashing into the " Richard's " 
bow, and ranging aft, tearing the flesh of the brave fellows on the 
decks, and cutting through timbers and cordage in their frightful course. 
At this moment, the Americans almost despaired of the termination of 
the conflict. The " Richard " proved to be old and rotten, and the 
enemy's shot seemed to tear her timbers to pieces ; while the " Serapis " 
was new, with timbers that withstood the shock of the balls like steel 
armor. Jones saw that in a battle with great guns he was sure to be 
the loser. He therefore resolved to board. 

Soon the " Richard " made an attempt to cross the bows of the 
" Serapis," but not having way enough failed ; and the " Serapis " ran 
foul of her, with her long bowsprit projecting over the .stern of the 
American ship. Springing from the quarter deck, Jones with his own 
hands swung grappling-irons into the rigging of the enemy, and made 
the ships fast. As he bent to his work, he was a prominent target for 
every sharp-shooter on the British vessel, and the bullets hummed thick' 
about his ears ; but he never flinched. His work done, he clambered 
back to the quarter-deck, and set about gathering the boarders. The 
two vessels swung alongside each other. The cannonading was 
redoubled, and the heavy ordnance of the " Serapis " told fearfully upon 
the "Richard." The American gunners were driven from their guns 
by the flying cloud of shot and splinters. Each party thought the 
other was about to board. The darkness and the smoke made all vision 
impossible ; and the boarders on each vessel were crouched behind the 
bulwarks, ready to give a hot reception to their enemies. This suspense 
caused a temporary lull in the firing, and Capt. Pearson of the " Serapis " 
shouted out through the sulphurous blackness, — 

" Have you struck your colors ? " 
L.cTC. 



BLUK-JACKETS OF '76. 



"I have not yet begun to fight," replied Jones; and again the thunder 
of the cannon awakened the echoes on the distant shore. As tlie firing 
recommenced, the two ships broke away and drifted apart. Again the 
"Serapis" sought to get a raking position; but by this time Jones luid 
determined that his only hope lay in boarding. Terrible had been the 
execution on his ship. The cockpit was filled with the wounded. The 
mangled remains of the dead lay thick about the decks. The timbers 
of the ship were greatly shattered, and her cordage was so badly cut that 
skilful manoeuvring was impossible. Many shot-holes were beneath the 
water-line, and the hold was rapidly filling. Therefore, Jones determined 
to run down his enemy, and get out his boarders, at any cost. 

Soon the two vessels were foul again. Capt. Pearson, knowing that 
his advantage lay in long-distance fighting, strove to break away. Jones 
bent all his energies to the task of keeping the ships together. Mean- 
time the battle raged fiercely. Jones himself, in his official repoit of the 
battle, thus describes the course of the fight : — 

" I directed the fire of one of the three cannon against the main-mast 
A'ith double-headed shot, while the other two were exceedingly well 
served with grape and canister shot, to silence the enemy's musketry, 
and clear her decks, which was at last effected. The enemy were, as I 
have since understood, on the instant for calling for quarter, when the 
cowardice or treachery of three of my under officers induced them to 
call to the enemy. The English commodore asked me if I demanded 
quarter ; and I having answered him in the negative, they renewed the 
battle with double fury. They were unable .to stand the deck ; but the 
fury of their cannon, especially the lower battery, which was entirely 
formed of eighteen-pounders, was incessant. Both ships were set on 
fire in various places, and the scene was dreadful beyond the reach of 
language. To account for the timidity of my three under officers (I mean 
the gunner, the carpenter, and the master-at-arms), I must observe that 
the two first were slightly wounded ; and as the ship had received various 
shots under water, and one of the pumps being shot away, the carpenter 
expressed his fear that she would sink, and the other two concluded 
that she was sinking, which occasioned the gunner to run aft on the 
poop, without my knowledge, to strike the colors. Fortunately for me a 
cannon-ball had done that before by carrying away the ensign staff : he 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. lOI 

was, therefore, reduced to the necessity of sinking — as he supposed — 
or of calling for quarter; and he preferred the latter." 

Indeed, the petty officers were little to be blamed for considering the 
condition of the " Richard " hopeless. The great guns of the " Serapis," 
with their muzzles not twenty feet away, were hurling solid shot and 
grape through the flimsy shell of the American ship. So close together 
did the two ships come at times, that the rammers were sometimes thrust 
into the portholes of the opposite ship in loading. When the ships first 
swung together, the lower ports of the " Serapis " were closed to prevent 
the Americans boarding through them. But in the heat of the conflict 
the ports were quickly blown off, and the iron throats of the great guns 
again protruded, and dealt out their messages of death. How frightful 
was the scene ! In the two great ships were more than seven hundred 
men, their eyes lighted with the fire of hatred, their faces blackened with 
powder or made ghastly by streaks of blood. Cries of pain, yells of 
rage, prayers, and curses rose shrill above the thunderous monotone of the 
cannonade. Both ships were on fire ; and the black smoke of the confla-^ 
gration, mingled with the gray gunpowder smoke, and lighted up by the 
red flashes of the cannonade, added to the terrible picturesqueness of 
the scene. 

The " Richard " seemed like a spectre ship, so shattered was her 
frame-work. From the main-mast to the stern post, her timbers above 
the water-line were shot away, a few blackened posts alone preventing 
the upper deck from falling. Through this ruined shell swept the shot 
of the "Serapis," finding little to impede their flight save human flesh 
and bone. Great streams of water were pouring into the hold. The 
pitiful cries of nearly two hundred prisoners aroused the compassion of 
an ofificer, who ran below and liberated them. Driven from the hold 
by the in-pouring water, these unhappy men ran to the deck, only to 
be swept down by the storm of cannon-shot and bullets. Fire, too, 
encompassed them ; and the flames were so fast sweeping down upon 
the magazine, that Capt. Jones ordered the powder-kegs to be brought 
up and thrown into the sea. At this work, and at the pumps, the 
prisoners were kept employed until the end of the action. 

But though the heavy guns of the "Serapis" had it all their own 
way below, shattering the hull of the " Richard," and driving the 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



Yankee gunners from their quarters, the conflict, viewed from the tops, 
was not so one-sided. The Americans crowded on the forecastle and in 
the tops, where they continued the battle with musketry and hanil- 
grenades, with such murderous effect that the British were driven 
entirely from the upper deck. Once a party of about one hundred 
picked men, mustered below by Capt. Pearson, rushed to the upper 
deck of the " Serapis," and thence made a descent upon the deck of the 
" Richard," firing pistols, brandishing cutlasses, and yelling like demons. 
But the Yankee tars were ready for them at that game, and gave the 
boarders so spirited a reception with pikes and cutlasses, that they were 
ready enough to swarm over the bulwarks, and seek again the comparative 
safety of their own ship. 

But all this time, though the Americans were making a brave and 
desperate defence, the tide of battle was surely going against them 
Though they held the deck of the "Richard" secure against all comers, 
yet the Englishmen were cutting the ship away from beneatji them, 
with continued heavy broadsides. Suddenly the course of battle was 
changed, and victory took her stand with the Americans, all through 
the daring and coolness of one man, — no officer, but an humble jacky. 

The rapid and accurate fire of the sharp-shooters on the " Richard " 
had driven all the riflemen of the "Serapis" from their posts in the 
tops. Seeing this, the Americans swarmed into the rigging of their 
own ship, and from that elevated station poured down a destructive fire 
of hand-grenades upon the decks of the enemy. The sailors on the 
deck of the " Richard " seconded this attack, by throwing the same 
missiles through the open ports of the enemy. 

At last one American topman, filling a bucket with grenades, and 
hanging it on his left arm, clambered out on the yard-arm of the 
" Richard," that stretched far out over the deck of the British ship. 
Cautiously the brave fellow crept out on the slender spar. His com- 
rades below watched his progress, while the sharp-shooters kept a wary 
eye on the enemy, lest some watchful rifleman should pick off the 
adventurous blue-jacket. Little by little the nimble sailor crept out on 
the yard, until he was over the crowded gun-deck of the "Serapis." 
Then, lying at full length on the spar, and somewhat protected by it, 
he began to shower his missiles upon the enemy's gun-deck. Great was 



BLUE-jACKErS OF '76. IO3 

the execution done by each grenade ; but at last, one better aimed 
than the rest fell through the main hatch to the main deck. There 
was a flash, then a succession of quick explosions ; a great sheet of 
flame gushed up through the hatchway, and a chorus of cries told 
of some frightful tragedy enacted below. 

It seemed that the powder-boys of the "Serapis" had been too active 
in bringing powder to the guns, and, instead of bringing cartridges as 
needed, had kept one charge in advance of the demand ; so that behind 
every gun stood a cartridge, making a line of cartridges on the deck 
from bow to stern. Several cartridges had been broken, so that much 
loose powder lay upon the deck. This was fired by the discharge of the 
hand-grenade, and communicated the fire to the cartridges, which exploded 
in rapid succession, horribly burning scores of men. More than twenty 
men were killed instantly ; and so great was the flame and the force of 
the explosion, that many of them were left with nothing on but the 
collars and wristbands of their shirts, and the waistbands of their trousers. 
It is impossible to conceive of the horror of the sight. 

Capt. Pearson in his official report of the battle, speaking of this 
occurrence, says, " A hand-grenade being thrown in at one of the lower 
jjorts, a cartridge of powder was set on fire, the flames of which, running 
from cartridge to cartridge all the way aft, blew up the whole of the 
people and officers that were quartered abaft the main-mast ; from which 
unfortunate circumstance those guns were rendered useless for the 
remainder of the action, and I fear that the greater part of the people 
will lose their lives." 

This event changed the current of the battle. The English were 
hemmed between decks by the fire of the American topmen, and they 
found that not even then were they protected from the fiery hail of 
hand-grenades. The continual pounding of double-headed shot from a 
gun which Jones had trained upon the main-mast of the enemy had finally 
cut away that spar ; and it fell with a crash upon the deck, bringing 
down spars and rigging with it. Flames were rising from the tarred 
cordage, and spreading to the framework of the ship. The Americans 
saw victory within their grasp. 

IJut at this moment a new and most unsuspected enemy appeared 
upon the scene. The "Alliance," which had stood aloof during the heat 



104 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

of the conflict, now appeared, and, after firing a few shots into thj 
"Serapis," ranged slowly down along the "Richard," pouring a murderous 
fire of grape-shot into the already shattered ship. Jones thus tells the 
story of this treacherous and wanton assault : — 

" I now thought that the battle was at an end. But, to m) utter 
astonishment, he discharged a broadside full into the stern of the 'Bon 
Homme Richard.' We called to him for God's sake to forbear. Yet he 
passed along the off-side of the ship, and continued firing. There was no 
possibility of his mistaking the enemy's ship for the ' Bon Homme Richard,' 
there being the most essential difference in their appearance and construc- 
tion. Besides, it was then full moonlight ; and the sides of the ' Bon 
Homme Richard ' were all black, and the sides of the enemy's ship 
were yellow. Yet, for the greater security, I showed the signal for our 
reconnoissance, by putting out three lanterns, — one at the bow, one at 
the stern, and one at the middle, in a horizontal line. 

"Every one cried that he was firing into the wrong ship, but nothing 
availed. He passed around, firing into the ' Bon Homme Richard,' 
head, stern, and broadside, and by one of his volleys killed several of 
my best men, and mortally wounded a good officer of the forecastle. My 
situation was truly deplorable. The 'Bon Homme Richard' received 
several shots under the water from the ' Alliance.' The leak gained 
on the pumps, and the fire increased much on board both ships. Some 
officers entreated me to strike, of whose courage and sense I entertain a 
high opinion. I would not, however, give up the point." 

Fortunately Landais did not persist in his cowardly attack upon his 
friends in the almost sinking ship, but sailed off, and allowed the 
" Richard " to continue her life-and-Jeath struggle with her enemy. 
The struggle was not now of long duration ; for Capt. Pearson, seeing 
that his ship was a perfect wreck, and that the fire was gaining head 
way, hauled down his colors with his own hands, since none of his men 
could be persuaded to brave the fire from the tops of the "Richard." 

As the proud emblem of Great Britain fluttered down, Lieut. Richard 
Dale turned to Capt. Jones, and asked permission to board the ]5rize. 
Receiving an affirmative answer, he jumped on the gunwale, seized 
the mainbrace-pendant, and swung himself upon the quarter-deck of the 
captured ship. Midshipman Mayrant, with a large party of sailors, followed. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. I05 



Si) yreat was the cimfusion on the "Scrapis," that few of the English- 
men knew that the ship had been surrendered. As Mayrant came 
aboard, he was mistaken for the leader of a boarding-party, and run 
through the thigh with a pike. 

Capt. Pearson was found standing alone upon the quarter-deck, 
contemplating with a sad face the shattered condition of his once noble 
ship, and the dead bodies of his brave fellows lying about the decks. 
Stepping up to him, Lieut. Dale said, — 

" Sir, I have orders to send you on board the ship alongside." 

At this moment, the first lieutenant of the " Serapis " came up 
hastily, and inquired, — 

"Has the enemy struck her flag.'" 

"No, sir," answered Dale. "On the contrary, you have struck to us." 

Turning quickly to his commander, the English lieutenant asked, — 

"Have you struck, sir.'" 

" Yes, I have," was the brief reply. 

" I have nothing more to say," remarked the officer, and turning 
about was in the act of going below, when Lieut. Dale stopped him, 
saying, — 

" It is my duty to request you, sir, to accompany Capt. Pearson on 
board the ship alongside." 

" If you will first permit me to go below," responded the other, " I 
will silence the firing of the lower deck guns." 

" This cannot be permitted," was the response ; and, silently bowing 
liis head, the lieutenant followed his chief to the victorious ship, while 
two midshipmen went below to stop the firing. 

Lieut. Dale remained in command of the "Serapis." Seating himself 
on the binnacle, he ordered the lashings which had bound the two 
ships throughout the bloody conflict to be cut. Then the head-sails 
were braced back, and the wheel put down. But, as the ship had been 
anchored at the beginning of the battle, she refused to answer either 
helm or canvas. Vastly astounded at this. Dale leaped from the binnacle ; 
l)Ul his legs refused to support him, and he fell heavily to the deck. 
His followers sprang to his aid; and it was found that the lieutenant had 
been severely wounded in the leg by a splinter, but had fought out the 
battle without ever noticing his hurt. 



Io6 BLUR-JACKETS OF '76. 

So ended this memorable battle. But the feelings of pride and 
exultation so natural to a victor died away in the breast of the American 
captain as he looked about the scene of wreck and carnage. On all 
aides lay the mutilated bodies of the gallant fellows who had so bravely 
stood to their guns amid the storm of death-dealing missiles. There 
they.' lay, piled one on top of the other, — some with their agonized 
writhings caught and fixed by death ; others calm and peaceful, as 
though sleeping. Powder-boys, young and tender, lay by the side of 
grizzled old seamen. Words cannot picture the scene. In his journal 
Capt. Jones wrote : — 

"A person must have been an eye-witness to form a just idea of 
the tremendous scene of carnage, wreck, and ruin that everywhere 
appeared. Humanity cannot but recoil from the prospect of such finished 
horror, and lament that war should produce such fatal consequences." 

But worse than the appearance of the main deck was the scene in 
the cockpit and along the gun-deck, which had been converted into a 
temporary hospital. Here lay the wounded, ranged in rows along the 
deck. Moans and shrieks of agony were heard on every side. The 
surgeons were busy with their glittering instruments. The tramp of men 
on the decks overhead, and the creaking of the timbers of the water- 
logged ship, added to the cries of the wounded, made a perfect bedlam 
of the place. 

It did not take long to discover that the " Bon Homme Richard " 
was a complete wreck, and in a sinking condition. The gallant old 
craft had kept afloat while the battle was being fought ; but now, that 
the victory had remained with her, she had given up the struggle 
against the steadily encroaching waves. The carpenters who had 
explored the hold came on deck with long faces, and reported that 
nothing could be done to stop the great holes made by the shot of the 
" Serapis." Therefore Jones determined to remove his crew and all 
the wounded to the "Serapis," and abandon the noble "Richard" to 
her fate. Accordingly, all available hands were put at the pumps, and 
the work of transferring the wounded was begun. Slings were rigged 
over the side ; and the poor shattered bodies were gently lowered into 
the boats awaiting them, and, on reaching the " Serapis," were placed 
tenderly in cots ranged along the main deck. All night the work went on ; 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 'O? 



and by ten o'clock the next morning there were left on the " Richard " 
unly a few sailors, who alternately worked at the pumps, and fought the 
steadily cncroacliing flames. 

For Jones did not intend to desert the good old ship without a 
struggle to save her, even though both fire and water were warring against 
her. Not until the morning dawned did the Americans fully appreciate 
how shattered was the hulk that stood between them and a watery 
grave. Fenimore Cooper, the pioneer historian of the United States 
navy, writes : — 

" When the day dawned, an examination was made into the situation 
of the ' Richard.' Abaft on a line with those guns of the ' Serapis ' 
that had not been disabled by the explosion, the timbers were found 
to be nearly all beaten in, or beaten out, — for in this respect there was 
little difference between the two sides of the ship, — and it was said that 
her poop and upper decks would have fallen into the gun-room, but for 
a few buttocks that had been missed. Indeed, so large was the vacuum, 
that most of the shot fired from this part of the ' Sei'apis,' at the close 
of the action, must have gone through the ' Richard ' without touching 
any thing. The rudder was cut from the stern post, and the transoms 
were nearly driven out of her. All the after-part of the ship, in particular, 
ihat was below the quarter-deck was torn to pieces ; and nothing had 
saved those stationed on the quarter-deck but the impossibility of 
sufificiently elevating guns that almost touched their object." 

Despite the terribly shattered condition of the ship, her crew worked 
manfully to save her. But, after fighting the flames and working the 
pumps all day, they were reluctantly forced to abandon the good ship to 
her fate. It was nine o'clock at night, that the hopelessness of the task 
became evident. The " Richard " rolled heavily from side to side. The 
sea was up to her lower port-holes. At each roll the water gushed 
through her port-holes, and swashed through the hatchways. At ten 
o'clock, with a last dying surge, the shattered hulk plunged ti) her final 
resting-place, carrying with her the bodies of her dead. They had died 
the noblest of all deaths, — the death of a patriot killed in doing battle 
for his country. They receive the grandest of all burials, — the burial 
of a sailor who follows his ship to her grave, on the hard, white sand, 
in the calm depths of the ocean. 



Io8 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

How many were there that went down with the ship? History does 
not accurately state. Capt. Jones himself was never able to tell how 
great was the number of dead upon his ship. The most careful estimate 
puts the number at forty-two. Of the wounded on the American ship, 
there were about forty. All these were happily removed from the 
" Richard " before she sunk. 

On the " Serapis " the loss was much greater; but here, too, history 
is at fault, in that no official returns of the killed and wounded have 
been preserved. Capt. Jones's estimate, which is probably nearly correct, 
put the loss of the English ship at about a hundred killed, and an equal 
number wounded. 

The sinking of the " Richard " left the " Serapis " crowded with 
wounded of both nations, prisoners, and the remnant of the crew of the 
sunken ship. No time was lost in getting the ship in navigable shape, 
and in clearing away the traces of the battle. The bodies of the dead 
were thrown overboard. The decks were scrubbed and sprinkled with 
hot vinegar. The sound of the hammer and the saw was heard on every 
hand, as the carpenters stopped the leaks, patched the deck, and rigged 
new spars in place of those .shattered by the " Richard's " fire. All 
three of the masts had gone by the board. Jury masts were rigged ; and 
with small sails stretched on these the ship beat about the ocean, the 
plaything of the winds. Her consorts had left her. Landais, seeing no 
chance to rob Jones of the honor of the victory, had taken the "Alliance" 
to other waters. The " Pallas " had been victorious in her contest with 
the "Countess of Scarborough;" and, as soon as the issue of the conflict 
between the " Pxm Homme Richard " and the " Serapis " had become 
evident, she made off witli iicr prize, intent upon gaining a friendly 
port. The "Richard," after ten days of drifting, finally ran into Te.\el, 
in the north of Holland. 

The next year was one of comparative inactivity for Jones. He 
enjoyed for a time the praise of all friends of the revolting colonies. 
He was the lion of Paris. Then came the investigation into the action 
of Landais at the time of the great battle. Though his course at that 
time was one of open treachery, inspired by his wish to have Jones 
strike to the " Serapis," that he might have the honor of capturing both 
ships, Landais escaped any punishment at the hands of his Prench 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. I09 

compatriots. But he was relieved of the command of the " Alliance," 
which was given to Jones. Highly incensed at this action, the erratic 
Frenchman incited the crew of the " Alliance " to open mutiny, and, 
taking command of the ship himself, left France and sailed for America, 
leaving Commodore Jones in the lurch. On his arrival at Philadelphia, 
Landais strove to justify his action hy blackening the character of 
Jones, but failed in this, and was dismissed the service. His actions 
should be regarded with some charity, for the man was doubtless of 
unsound mind. His insanity became even more evident after his dis- 
missal from the navy ; and from that time, until the time of his death, 
his eccentricities made him generally regarded as one mentally un- 
sound. 

Jones, having lost the "Alliance" by the mutiny of Landais, remained 
abroad, waiting for another ship. He travelled widely on the Continent, 
and was lavishly entertained by the rich and noble of every nation. Not 
until October, 1780, did he again tread the deck of a vessel under his 
own command. 

The ship which the French Government finally fitted out and put in 
command of Paul Jones was the "Ariel," a small twenty-gun ship. This 
vessel the adventurous sailor packed full of powder and cannon-balls, 
taking only provisions enough for nine weeks, and evidently expecting 
to live off the prizes he calculated upon taking. He sailed from I'Orient 
on a bright October afternoon, under clear skies, and with a fair wind,, 
intending to proceed directly to the coast of America. But the first 
night out there arose a furious gale. The wind howled through the 
rigging, tore the sails from the ring - bolts, snapped the spars, and 
seriously wrecked the cordage of the vessel. The great waves, lashed 
into fury by the hurricane, smote against the sides of the little craft as 
though they would burst through her sheathing. The ship rolled heavily ; 
and the yards, in their grand sweep from side to side, often plunged deep 
into the foaming waves. At last so great became the strain upon the 
vessel, that the crew were set to work with axes to cut away the foremast. 
Balancing themselves upon the tossing, slippery deck, holding fast to a 
rope with one hand, while with the other they swung the axe,nhe gallant 
fellows finally cut so deep into the heart of the stout spar, that a heavy 
roll of the ship made it snap off short, and it fell alongside, where it 



no BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



hung by the cordage. Tlic wreck was soon cleared away ; and as this 
seemed to ease the ship somewhat, and as she was drifting about 
near the dreaded rock of Penmarque, the anchors were got out. But in 
the mean time the violent rolling of the " Ariel " had thrown the heel 
of the main-mast from the step ; and the heavy mast was reeling about, 
threatening either to plough its way upward through the gun-deck, or to 
crash through the bottom of the ship. It was determined to cut away 
this mast ; but, before this could be done, it fell, carrying with it the 
mizzen-mast, and crushing in the deck on which it fell. Thus dismasted, 
the "Ariel" rode out the gale. All night and all the next day she was 
tossed about on the angry waters. Her crew thought that their last hour 
had surely come. Over the shrieking of the gale, and the roaring of the 
waves, rose that steady, all-pervading sound, which brings horror to the mind 
of the sailor, — the dull, monotonous thunder of the breakers on the reef of 
Penmarque. But the " Ariel " was not fated to be ground to pieces on 
the jagged teeth of the cruel reef. Though she drifted about, the plaything 
of the winds and the waves, she escaped the jaws of Penmarque. Finally 
the gale subsided ; and, with hastily devised jury-masts, the shattered ship 
was taken back to I'Orient to refit. 

Two months were consumed in the work of getting the shattered 
vessel ready for sea. When she again set out, she met with no mishap, 
until, when near the American coast, she fell in with a British vessel to 
which she gave battle. A sharp action of a quarter of an hour forced 
the Englishman to strike his colors ; but, while the Americans were 
prepairing to board the prize, she sailed away, vastly to the chagrin and 
indignation of her would-be captors. 

The short cruise of the " Ariel " was the last service rendered by Paul 
Jones to the American Colonies. On his arrival at Philadelphia, he was 
dined and feted to his heart's desire; he received a vote of thanks from 
Congress ; he became the idol of the populace. But the necessities of the 
struggling colonies were such that they were unable to build for him a 
proper war-ship, and he remained inactive upon shore until the close of 
the Revolution, when he went abroad, and took service with Russia. He 
is the one great character in the naval history of the Revolution. He is 
the first heroic figure in American naval annals. Not until years after hir 
death did men begin to know him at his true worth. He was too oftci: 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



looked upon as a man of no oatriotism, but wholly mercenary ; courageous, 
but only with the daring of a pirate. Not until he had died a lonely 
death, estranged from the country he had so nobly served, did men come 
to know Paul Jones as a model naval officer, high-minded in his patiiotism, 
pure in his life, elevated in his sentiments, and as courageous as a lion. 








CHAPTER X. 



CAREER OF NICHOLAS BIDDLE. - HIS EXPLOIT AT LEWISTON JAIL. - CRUISE IN THE 
" RANDOLPH." — BATTLE WITH THE " YARMOUTH." — THE FATAL EXPLOSION. — SAMUEL 
TUCKER. -HIS BOYHOOD. — ENXOUNTER \VITH CORSAIRS. — CRUISING IN THE " FRANK- 
LIN."— IN COMMAND OF THE " BOSTON." — ANECDOTES OF CAPT. TUCKER. 




N THE career of Paul Jones is to be found the record of the most 
stirring events of the Revolution ; but there were other command- 
ers in the young American navy no less daring than he. As the 
chief naval representative of the Colonies who cruised in European 
waters, Jones achieved a notoriety somewhat out of proportion to his actual 
achievements. But other brave seamen did gallant service along the 
Atlantic coast for the cause of the struggling nation, and, by their daring 
and nautical skill, did much to bring the war of the Revolution to its 
happy conclusion. 

We abandoned our consideration of the general naval events of the war, 
to turn to a recountal of the exploits of Paul Jones at the close of the year 
1776. Hostilities on the water during that year were confined to sharp, 
but short, actions between small men-of-war or privateers. The Americans 

112 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. II3 

lacked the discipline and experience necessary to win for themselves 
any great reputation on the water. Though they showed themselves full 
of dash and spirit, they were deficient in discipline and staying qualities. 
Nevertheless, the record of the year was by no means discreditable to so 
young a naval organization. 

Aside from the naval operations on the ocean, the year 1776 had seen 
the thick clouds of gunpowder-smoke floating across the placid surface 
of Lake Champlain, while the wooded hills that surrounded that lake and 
Lake Geor^.'^e more than once resounded with thunderous tones of cannon. 
The hostile meetings of the English and Americans on the interior lakes 
are hardJy to be classed as naval engagements. The vessels were chiefly 
gondola." and galleys, and many of their crews had never seen salt water. 
On the British side the forces were more considerable. In October, 1776, 
the Bri iiih had on Lake Champlain at least one full-rigged ship; and their 
schoon ill's and galleys were all manned by trained sailors, drafted from 
men-of war laid up in the St. Lawrence. This force was under the command 
of Cajvt. Douglass of the frigate "Isis." The Americans, on the contrary, 
had manned their fleet with recruits from the army ; and the forces were 
under the command of an army-officer. Gen. Benedict Arnold, the story of 
whose later treachery is familiar to every American. It was late in October 
that the two hostile fleets met in deadly conflict, and a few short hours 
were enough to prove to the Americans that they were greatly overmatched. 
Such of their vessels as were not sunk were captured ami burned by the 
ene.ny; while their crews escaped into the woods, and ultimately rejoined 
Arnold's army, from which they had been drafted. 

We pass thus hastily over the so-called naval operations on Lake Cham- 
plam, because they were properly not naval operations at all, but merely 
incidents in the shore campaign. The fact that a few soldiers hastily build 
a small flotilla, and with it give battle to an enemy on the water, docs not 
in any sense constitute a naval battle. 

The year 1777 witnessed many notable naval events. Hostilities along 
the seaboard became more lively. New vessels were put into commission. 
England despatched a larger naval armament to crush her rebellious colo- 
nics. The records of the admu-alty show, that at the beginning of that year 
Tarliamcnt voted to the navy forty-five thousand men. The Americans 
were able to array against this huge force only some four Ihousanil, scattered 
upon thirteen small vessels-of-war. 



IH BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



One of the first ships to get to sea in this year was the "Randolph :" 
a new frigate commanded by Nicholas Biddlc, who thus early in the war 
had won the confidence of the people and the naval authorities. In com- 
mand of the little cruiser " Andrea Doria," Biddle had cruised off the coast 
of Newfoundland in 1776. His success upon that cruise has already been 
noted. 

Biddle was a man possessing to the fullest degree that primary 
qualification of a good naval officer, — an indomitable will. In illustration 
of his determination, a story is related concerning an incident that 
occurred just as the "Andrea Doria" had left the Capes of the Delaware. 
Two of her crew had deserted, and, being apprehended by the authorities 
on shore, were lodged in Lewistown jail. But the sheriff and his deputies 
found it easier to turn the key on the fugitive tars, than to keep them 
in control while they lay in durance vile. Gathering all the benches, 
chairs, and tables that lay about the jail, — for the lockup of those days 
was not the trim affair of steel and iron seen to-day, — the unrepentant 
jackies built for themselves a barricade, and, snugly entrenched behind 
it, shouted out bold defiance to any and all who should come to take 
them. The jail authorities had committed the foolish error of neglecting 
to disarm the prisoners when they were captured ; and, as each had a 
brace of ugly pistols in his belt, the position of the two behind their 
barricade was really one of considerable strength. The prison officials 
dared not attempt to dislodge the warlike tars. The militia company of 
the town was ordered to the scene, but even this body of soldiery dared 
not force the prison door. Accordingly they determined to let time do 
the work, and starve the rogues out of their retreat. At this juncture 
Capt. Biddle came ashore. He had no intention of letting his trim ship 
lie idly in the offing while two mutinous blue-jackets were slowly starved 
into subjection. The "Andrea Doria" needed the men, and there must 
be no more delay. A captain in the American navy was not to be defied 
by two of his own people. 

Therefore, seizing a loaded pistol in each hand, Capt. Biddle walked 
to the prison, accompanied only by a young midshipman. As the two 
pounded upon the heavy barred door, the crowd outside fell back, 
expecting the bullets to fly. 

"Open this door, Green," shouted Biddle to one of the prisoners, 
whom he knew by name. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '^6. 1 15 

"Try to open it yourself," came the reply fron; within, with an accom- 
panying oath. "The first man that shows his head inside this door gets 
a bullet." 

Green was known as a bold, de-^perate man ; but Biddle did not 
hesitate a moment. Orderinjj the bystanders to break down the door, 
he waited quietly, until a ciash, and the sudden scattering of the crowd, 
gave notice that the way into the prison was clear. Then gripping his 
pistols tightly, but with his arms hanging loosely at his sides, he 
advanced upon the deserters. Behind the barricade stood Green, his 
eyes blazing with rage, his pistol levelled. Biddle faced him quietly. 

" Now, Green, if you don't take a good aim, you are a dead man," 
said he. 

With a muttered curse, the mutineer dropped his weapon. The cool 
determination of the captain aw^a him. In a few minutes he, with his 
companion, was on his way to the ship in irons. 

It was in February, 1777, that the stanch new frigate "Randolph," 
with Biddle in command,' set sail from Philadelphia. Hardly had she 
reached the high seas when a terrific gale set in, from which thi 
'' Randolph " emerged, shorn of her tapering masts. As she lay a help- 
less wreck tossing on the waves, the hard work necessary to put her in 
lecent shape again induced Biddle to accede to the request of a number 
Df British prisoners on board, who wished to be enrolled among the 
crew of the "Randolph." This proved to be an unfortunate move; for 
the Englishmen were no sooner enroiied on the ship's list than they 
began plotting mutiny, and the uprising reached such a stage that 
they assembled on the gun-deck, and gave three cheers. But the firm 
and determined stand of the captain and his officers overawcil the 
mutineers, and they returned to their places after the ringleaders had 
been made to suffer at the gratings. But the spirit of disaffection rife 
amid his crew, and the crippled condition of his ship, determined Biddle 
to proceed forthwith to Charleston to refit. 

But a few days were spent in port. Getting to sea again, the 
"Randolph" fell in with the "True Briton," a twenty-gun ship, flying 
the British colors. Though the captain of the " True Briton " had often 
boasted of what he would do shouki he encounter tlie " Randolph," his 
courage then failed him, and he fled. The " Randolph " gave chase, and, 



Il6 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



proving to be a speedy ship, soon overhauled the prize, which struck 
without waiting for a volley. Three other vessels that had been cruising 
with the " True Briton " were also captured, and with her rich prizes 
the " Randolph " returned proudly to Charleston. Here her usefulness 
ceased for a time ; for a superior force of British men-of-war appeared off 
the harbor, and by them the " Randolph " was blockaded for the remainder 
of the season. 

Early in 1778 Biddle again took the sea with the "Randolph," 
supported this time by four small vessels, fitted out by the South Carolina 
authorities. They were the "Gen. Moultrie," eighteen guns ; the " Polly," 
si.xteen ; the "Notre Dame," sixteen; and the "Fair American," sixteen. 
With this force Capt. Biddle set out in search of a British squadron known 
to be cruising thereabouts, and probably the same vessels that had kept 
him a prisoner during so much of the previous year. 

On the 7th of March, 1778, the lookouts on the smaller vessels saw 
a signal thrown out from the masthead of the " Randolph," which 
announced a sail in sight. Chase was at once given ; and by four o'clock 
she was near enough for the Americans to see that she was a large ship, 
and apparently a man-of-war. About eight o'clock the stranger was 
near enough the squadron for them to make out that she was a heavy 
frigate. 

The Englishman was not slow to suspect the character of the vessels 
with which he had fallen in, and firing a shot across the bows of the 
" Moultrie," demanded her name. 

" The ' Polly ' of New York," was the response. 

Leaving the " Moultrie " unmolested, the stranger ranged up alongside 
the " Randolph," and ordered her to show her colors. This Biddle 
promptly did ; and as the American flag went fluttering to the fore, thj, 
ports of the " Randolph " were thrown open, and a broadside poured into 
the hull of the Englishman. The stranger was not slow in replying, and 
the action became hot and deadly. Capt. Biddle was wounded in the 
thigh early in the battle. As he fell to the deck, his officers crowded 
about him, thinking that he was killed; but he encouraged them to return 
to their posts, and, ordering a chair to be placed on the quarter-deck, 
remained on deck, giving orders, and cheering on his men. It is said 
that Capt. Biddle was wounded by a shot from the "Moultrie," which 
flew wide of its intended mark. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. H? 



For twenty minutes the battle raged, and there was no sign of 
weakening on the part of either contestant. Suddenly the sound of the 
cannonade was deadened by a thunderous roar. The people on the other 
ships saw a huge column of fire and smoke rise where the " Randolph '* 
had floated. The English vessel was thrown violently on her beam-ends. 
The sky was darkened with flying timbers and splinters, which fell 
heavily into the sea. The " Randolph " had blown up. A spark, a red- 
hot shot, some fiery object, had penetrated her magazine, and she was 
annihilated. 

The horrible accident which destroyed the " Randolph " came near 
being the end of the "Yarmouth," her antagonist. The two battling 
ships were close together ; so close, in fact, that after the explosion Capt. 
Morgan of the "Fair American" hailed the "Yarmouth" to ask how 
Capt. Biddle was. The English ship was fairly covered with bits of the 
flying wreck. Some heavy pieces of timber falling from the skies badly 
shattered her main-deck. An American ensign, closely rolled up, fell on 
her forecastle, not even singed by the fiery ordeal through which it harl 
passed. 

The "Yarmouth" wasted little time in wonder over the fate of her 
late antagonist. In all the mass of floating wreckage that covered the 
sea, there appeared to be no living thing. The four smaller American 
vessels, dismayed by the fate of their consort, were making good their 
escape. Without more ado, the " Yarmouth " set out in chase. 

Four days later, the Americans having escaped, the " Yarmouth " was 
again cruising near the scene of the action. A raft was discovered on 
the ocean, which seemed to support some living creatures. Running 
down upon it, four wretched, emaciated men were discovered clinging to 
a piece of wreckage, and wildly waving for assistance. They were taken 
aboard the British man-of-war, and given food and drink, of both of 
which they partook greedily ; for their sole sustenance during the four 
days for which they clung to their frail raft was rain-water sucked from 
a piece of blanket. 

So died Capt. Nicholas Biddle, blown to atoms by the explosion of 
his ship in the midst of battle. Though but a young officer, not having 
completed his twenty-seventh year, he left an enduring name in the 
naval annals of his country. Though his service was short, the fame he 
won was great. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



Among the more notable commanders who did good service on the 
sea was Capt. Samuel Tucker, who was put in command of the frigate 
"Boston" in the latter part of the year 1777. Tucker was an old and 
tried seaman, and is furthermore one of the most picturesque figures in 
the naval history of the Revolution. He first showed his love for the 
sea in the way that Yankee boys from time immemorial have shown it, 
— by running away from home, and shipping as a cabin-boy. The ship 
which he chose was the British sloop-of-war " Royal George," and the 
boy found himself face to face with the rigid naval discipline of the 
British service at that time. But he stuck manfully to the career he 
had chosen, and gradually mastered not only the details of a seaman's 
duty, but much of the art of navigation ; so that when finally he got his 
discharge from the " Royal George," he shipped as second mate on a 
Salem nicrcliantman. It was on his first voyage in this capacity that he 
first showed the mettle that was in him. Two Algerine corsairs, their 
decks crowded with men, their long low hulls cleaving the waves like 
dolphins, had given chase to the merchantman. The captain of the 
threatened ship grew faint-hearted : he sought courage in liquor, and soon 
became unable to manage his vessel. Tucker took the helm. He saw 
that there was no chance of escape in flight, for the corsairs were too 
fleet. There was no hope of victory in a battle, for the pirates were 
too strong. But the trim New England schooner minded her helm better 
than her lanteen-rigged pursuers, and this fact Tucker put to good 
account. 

Putting his helm hard down, he headed the schooner directly for the 
piratical craft. By skilful manoeuvring, he secured such a position that 
either pirate, by firing upon him, was in danger of firing into his fellow 
corsair. This position he managed to maintain until nightfall, when he 
slipped away, and by daylight was snugly at anchor in the port of 
Lisbon. 

For some time after this episode, the record of Tucker's seafaring 
life is lost. Certain it is that he served in the British navy as an officer 
for some time, and was master of a merchantman for several years. 

When the Revolution broke out, Samuel Tucker was in London. 
Being offered by a recruiting officer a commission in either the army or 
navy, if he would consent to serve "his gracious Majesty," Tucker very 



BLUE-JACKEIS OF '76. 1 19 

rashly responded, " Hang his gracious Majesty ! Do you think I would 
serve against my country ? " 

Soon a hue and cry was out for Tucker. He was charged with 
treason, and fled into the country to the house of a tavern-keeper whom 
he knew, who sheltered him until he could make his escape from 
England. 

Hardly hud he arrived in America, when Gen. Washington commis- 
sioned him captain of the "Franklin," and instructed him to proceed 
directly to sea. An express with the commission and instructions was 
hurried off to Marblehead, then a straggling little city. He was 
instructed to find the " Hon. Samuel Tucker," and to deliver to him the 
packets in his charge. When the messenger arrived. Tucker was work- 
ing in his yard. The messenger saw a rough-looking person, roughly 
clad, with a tarpaulin hat, and his neck bound with a flaming red 
bandanna handkerchief. Never once thinking this person could be the 
man he sought, he leaned from his horse, and shouted out roughly, — 

"I say, fellow, I wish you would tell me whether the Hon. SanuK 
Tucker lives hereabouts." 

Tucker looked up with a quizzical smile, and surveyed the speaker 
from under the wide rim of his tarpaulin, as he answered, — 

" Honorable, honorable ! There's none of that name in Marblehead. 
He must be one of the Tuckers in Salem. I'm the only Samuel Tucker 
here." 

"Capt. Glover told me he knew him," responded the messenger, 
"and described his house, gable-end on the seaside, none near it. Faith, 
this looks like the very place ! " 

With a laugh, Tucker then confessed his identity, and asked the 
messenger his business. Receiving the commission and instructions, he 
at once began his preparations for leaving home, and at daybreak the 
next morning was on his way to Beverly, where lay anchored the first 
ship he was to command in the service of his country. 

In the "Franklin" Capt. Tucker did some most efficient work. His 
name appears constantly in the letters of Gen. Washington, and in the 
State papers making up the American archives, as having sent in valua 
ble prizes. At one time we read of the capture of "a brigantine from 
Scotland, worth fifteen thousand pounds sterling ; " again, of six gun-boats, 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 76. 



and of brigs laden with wine and fruit. During the year 1776, he took 
not less than thirty — and probably a few more — ships, brigs, and smaller 
vessels. Nor were all these vessels taken without some sharp fighting. 

Of one battle Tucker himself speaks in one of his letters. First 
telling how his wife made the colors for his ship, "the field of which 
was white, and the union was green, made of cloth of her own purchasing, 
and at her own expense," he goes on to write of one of his battles: — 

"Those colors I wore in honor of the country, — which has so nobly 
rewarded me for my past services, — and the love of their maker, until 
I fell in with Col. Archibald Campbell in the ship "George," and brig 
" Arabella," transports with about two hundred and eighty Highland 
troops on board, of Gen. Frazer's corps. About ten p'm. a severe conflict 
ensued, which held about two hours and twenty minutes. I conquered 
them with great carnage on their side, it being in the night, and my 
small bark, about seventy tons burden, being very low in the water, I 
received no damage in loss of men, but lost a complete set of new sails 
by the passing of their balls ; then the white field and pine-tree union 
were riddled to atoms. I was then immediately supplied with a new suit 
of sails, and a new suit of colors, made of canvas and bunting of my 
own prize-goods." 

Another time, during the same year. Tucker took two British ships 
near Marblehead. So near was the scene of action to the house of Capt. 
Tucker, that his wife and her sister, hearing the sound of cannonading, 
ascended a high hill in the vicinity, and from that point viewed the 
action through a spy-glass. 

Capt. Tucker kept the sea in the " Franklin " until late in the winter. 
When finally the cold weather and high winds forced him to put his 
ship out of commission, he went to his home at Marblehead. He 
remained there but a short time; for in March, 1777, he was put in 
command of the " Boston," a frigate of twenty-four guns. In this vessel 
he cruised during the year with varying success. 

Feb. 10, 1778, Capt. Tucker was ordered to carry the Hon. John 
Adams to France, as envoy from the United States. The voyage was 
full of incidents. Feeling impressed with the gravity of the charge laid 
upon him, Capt. Tucker chose a course which he hoped would enable 
him to steer clear of the horde of British men-of-war which then infested 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 121 

the American coast. But in so doing he fell in with a natural enemy, 
which came near proving fatal. A terrific thunderstorm, gradually growing 
into a tornado, crossed the path of the ship. The ocean was lashed into 
waves mountain high. The crash of the thunder rent the sky. A stroke 
of lightning struck the main-mast, and ripped up the deck, narrowly miss 
ing the magazine. The ship sprung a leak ; and the grewsome sound of 
the pumps mingled with the roar of the waves, and the shrieking of the 
winds. For several days the stormy weather continued. Then followed 
a period of calm, which the captain well employed in repairing the rigging, 
and exercising the men with the guns and small-arms. Many ships had 
been sighted, and some, evidently men-of-war, had given chase ; but the 
" Boston " succeeded in showing them all a clean pair of heels. 

"What would you do," said Mr. Adams one day, as he stood with the 
captain watching three ships that were making desperate efforts to overhaul 
the "Boston," "if you could not escape, and they should attack you.''" 

" As the first is far in advance of the others, I should carry her by 
boarding, leading the boarders myself," was the response. " I should take 
her; for no doubt a majority of her crew, being pressed men, would turn 
to and join me. Having taken her, I should be matched, and could fight 
the other two." 

Such language as this coming from many men would be considered 
mere foolhardy boasting. But Tucker was a man not given to brag. 
Indeed, he was apt to be very laconic in speaking of his exploits. A short 
time after his escape from the three ships, he fell in with an English armed 
vessel of no small force, and captured her. His only comment on the 
action in his journal reads, "I fired a gun, and they returned three; and 
down went the colors." 

John Adams, however, told a more graphic story of this capture. 
Tucker, as soon as he saw an armed vessel in his path, hastily called his 
crew to order, and bore down upon her. When the roll of the drum, calling 
the people to quarters, resounded through the ship, Mr. Adams seized 
a musket, and took his stand with the marines. Capt. Tucker, seeing him 
there, requested him to go below, and upon his desire being disregarded, 
put his hand upon the envoy's shoulder, and in a tone of authority said, — 

" Mr. Adams, I am commanded by tlie Continental Congress to deliver 
you safe in France, and you must go below." 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



The envoy smilingly complied, and just at that moment the enemy let 
fly her broadside. The shot flew through the rigging, doing but little 
damage. Though the guns of the " Bo.ston " were shotted, and the gunners 
stood at their posts with smoking match-stocks, Capt. Tucker gave no order 
to fire, but seemed intent upon the manoeuvres of the ships. The eager 
blue-jackets begun to murmur, and the chorus of questions and oaths was 
soon so great that the attention of Tucker was attracted. He looked at 
the row of eager faces on the gun-deck, and shouted out, — 

" Hold on, my men ! I wish to save that egg without breaking the 
shell." 

Soon after, Tucker brought his broadside to bear on the stern of the 
enemy, and she struck without more ado. She proved to be an armed ship, 
the "Martha." 

After this encounter, nothing more of moment occurred on the voyage; 
and the "Boston" reached Bordeau.K, and landed her distinguished passenger 
in safety. Two months later she left Bordeaux, in company with a fleet 
'f twenty sail, one of which was the " Ranger," formerly commanded by 
Paul Jones. With these vessels he cniiscd for a time in European waters, 
but returned to the American coast in the autumn. His services for the 
rest of that year, and the early part of 1779, we must pass over hastily, 
though many were the prizes that fell into his clutches. 

Many anecdotes are told of Tucker. His shrewdness, originality, and 
daring made him a favorite theme for story-tellers. But, unhappily, the 
anecdotes have generally no proof of their truth. One or two, however, told 
by Capt. Tucker's biographer, Mr. John H. Sheppard, will not be out of 
place here. 

In one the story is told that Tucker fell in with a British frigate 
which he knew to be sent in search of him. Showing the English flag, 
he sailed boldly towards the enemy, and in answer to her hail said he 
was Capt. Gordon of the English navy, out in search of the " Boston," 
commanded by the rebel Tucker. 

"I'll carry him to New York, dead or alive," said Tucker. 

"Have you seen him.'" was asked. 

"Well, I've heard of him," was the response; "and they say he is a 
hard customer." 

All this time Tucker had been manoeuvring to secure a raking 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 1 23 

position. Behind the closed ports of the "Boston," the men stood at 
their guns, ready for the word of command. Just as the American had 
secured the position desired, a sailor in the tops of the British vessel 
cried out, — 

"That is surely Tucker; we shall have a devil of a smell directly." 

Hearing this. Tucker ordered the American flag hoisted, and the 
ports thrown open. Hailing his astonished foe, he cried, — 

"The time I proposed talking with you is ended. This is the 'Boston,' 
frigate. I am Samuel Tucker, but no rebel. Fire, or strike your flag." 

The Englishman saw he had no alternative but to strike. This he 
did without firing a gun. The vessel, though not named in the anecdote, 
was probably the " Pole," of the capture of which Tucker frequently 
speaks in his letters. 

Of the part Tucker played in the siege of Charleston, of his capture 
there by the British, and of his exchange, we shall speak later. At that 
disaster four American frigates were lost : so many of the best naval 
ofificers were thrown out of employment. Among them was Tucker ; but 
ever anxious for active service, he obtained the sloop-of-war "Thorn," 
which he himself had captured, and went out as a privateer. In this 
vessel he saw some sharp service. One engagement was' thus described 
to Mr. Sheppard by a marine named Everett who was on board : — 

"We had been cruising about three weeks when we fell in with an 
English packet of twenty-two guns and one hundred men. Not long 
after she was discovered, the commodore called up his crew, and said, 
'She means to fight us; and if we go alongside like men, she is ours in 
thirty minutes, but if we can't go as men we have no business here.' 
He then told them he wanted no cowards on deck, and requested those 
who were willing to fight to go down the starboard, and those who were 
unwilling the larboard gangway. Every man and boy took the first, 
signifying his willingness to meet the enemy. 

"As Mr. Everett was passing by, the commodore asked him, — 

"'Are 3-ou willing to go alongside of her.'' 

" ' Yes, sir,' was tne reply. 

"In mentioning this conversation, however, Mr. Everett candidly 
confessed, ' I did not tell him tlie truth, for I would rather have been 
in my father's cornfield.' 



124 BLUE-JACKETS OF '^G. 

" After the commanders of these two vessels, as they drew near, haa 
hailed each other in the customary way when ships meet at sea, the captain 
of the English packet cried out roughly from the quarter-deck, — 
"■"Haul down your colors, or I'll sink you!' 

'"Ay, ay, sir ; directly,' answered Tucker calmly. And he then ordered 
the helmsman to steer the 'Thorn' right under the stern of the packet, 
luff up under her lee quarters, and range alongside of her. The order was 
promptly executed. The two vessels were laid side by side, within pistol 
shot of each other. While the 'Thorn' was getting into position, the 
enemy fired a full broadside at her which did but little damage. As soon 
as she was brought completely alongside her adversary. Tucker thundered 
out to his men to fire, and a tremendous discharge followed ; and, as good 
aim had been taken, a dreadful carnage was seen in that ill-fated vessel. 
It was rapidly succeeded by a fresh volley of artillery, and in twenty-seven 
minutes a piercing cry was heard from the English vessel : ' Quarters, for 
God's sake! Our ship is sinking. Our men are dying of their wounds.' 
" To this heart-rending appeal Capt. Tucker exclaimed, — 
" ' How can you expect quarters while that British flag is flying .' ' 
" The sad answer came back, ' Our halliards are shot away.' 
"'Then cut away your ensign staff, or ye'll all be dead men.' 
" It was done immediately. Down came the colors, the din of cannon- 
ading ceased, and only the groans of the wounded and dying were heard. 

" Fifteen men, with carpenters, surgeon, and their leader, were quickly 
on the deck of the prize. Thirty-four of her crew, with her captain, were 
either killed or wounded. Her decks were besmeared with blood, and in 
some places it stood in clotted masses to the tops of the sailors' slippers. 
The gloomy but needful work of amputating limbs, and laying out the dead, 
was begun ; and every effort was made to render the wounded prisoners 
as comfortable as possible." 

Here we must take leave of Commodore Tucker and his exploits. As 
a privateersman, he continued to do daring work to the end of the war. He 
fought at least one more bloody action. He was captured once and escaped. 
But the recountal of his romantic career must now yield to our chronological 
survey of the lesser naval events of the Revolution. 




CHAPTER XI. 



HOSTILITIES IN 1777. — AMERICAN REVERSES. — THE 
BRITISH IN PHILADELPHIA. — THE ATTACK UPON 
FORT MIFFLIN.— CRUISE OF THE "RALEIGH" 
AND THE " ALFRED." — TORPEDO WARFARE.— 
THE BATTLE OF THE KEGS. 




E HAVE now heard of the exploits of some of the chief naval 

leaders of the war of the Revolution. But there were many 

dashing engagements in which the great commanders took no 

part, and many important captures made by vessels sailing under 

the flags of the individual colonics, which deserve attention. 

The American cause on the water suffered some rather severe 
reverses in the early part of 1777. In March, the brig "Cabot" fell in 
with the British frigate " Milford," and was so hard pressed that she 
was run ashore on the coast of Nova Scotia. The crew had hardly time 
to get ashore before the British took possession of the stranded craft. 
The Americans were left helpless, in a wild and little settled country, 
but finally made their way through the woods to a harbor. Here they 
found a coasting schooner lying at anchor, upon which they promptly 
seized, and in which they escaped to Portsmouth. In the mean time, 
the British had got the "Cabot" afloat again. 

Two months later, or in the early part of May, two United States 
vessels, the "Hancock" thirty-two, Capt. Manly, and the "Boston" 
twenty-four, Capt. Hector McNeil, sailed in company from Boston. When 

125 



126 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

a few days out, a strange sail was sighted, and proved to be a British 
frigate. The "Hancock" soon came near enough to her to exchange 
broadsides, as the two vessels were going on opposite tacks. The enemy, 
Iiovvever, seemed anxious to avoid a conflict, and exerted every effort to 
escape. Manly, having great confidence in the speed of his ship, gave 
chase. Calling the people from the guns, he bade them make a leisurely 
breakfast, and get ready for the work before them. The "Hancock" 
soon overhauled the chase, which began firing her guns as fast as they 
would bear. The Americans, however, made no response until fairly 
alongside, when they let fly a broadside with ringing cheers. The action 
lasted for an hour and a half before the enemy struck. She proved to 
be the " Fox," twenty-eight. She was badly cut up by the American 
fire, and had thirty-two dead and wounded men on board. The loss on 
the " Hancock " amounted to only eight men. In this running fight the 
"Boston" was hopelessly distanced, coming up just in time to fire a gun 
as the British ensign came fluttering from the peak. 

Putting a prize crew on the "Fox," the three vessels continued their 
cruise. A week passed, and no sail was seen. Somewhat rashly Capt. 
Manly turned his ship's prow toward Halifax, then, as now, the chief 
British naval station on the American coast. When the three ships 
appeared off the entrance to the harbor of Halifax, the British men-of- 
war inside quickly spied them, raised an;hor, and came crowding out in 
hot pursuit. There was the " Rainbow " forty-four, the " Flora " thirty- 
two, and the " Victor " eighteen, besides two others whose names could 
not be ascertained. The Americans saw that they had stirred up a nest 
of hornets, and sought safety in flight. The three British vessels whose 
names are given gave chase. The " Boston," by lier swift sailing, easily 
kept out of the reach of the enemy. The " Fox," however, was quickly 
overhauled by the " Flora," and struck her flag after exchanging a few 
broadsides. The " Hancock " for a time seemed likely to escape, but at 
last the " Rainbow " began gradually to overhaul her. Capt. Manly, 
finding escape impossible, began manoeuvring with the intention of board- 
ing his powerful adversary ; but the light winds nuulc this impossible, and 
he suddenly found himself under the guns of the " Rainbow," with the 
" Victor " astern, in a raking position. Seeing no hope for success in so 
unequal a conflict, Manly struck his flag. In the mean time the "Boston" 



BLUR-JACKETS OF '76. tiy 

hiid calmly proceeded upon her way, leaving her consorts to their fate. 
I"or having thus abandoned his superior officer, Capt. McNeil was 
dismissed the service upon his return to Boston. 

These losses were to some degree offset by the good fortune of the 
"Trumbull," twenty-eight, in command of Capt. Saltonstall. She left 
New York in April of this year, and had been on the water but a few days 
when she fell in with two British armed vessels of no inconsiderable force. 
The Englishmen, confident of their ability to beat off the cruiser, made no 
effort to avoid a conflict. Capt. Saltonstall, by good seamanship, managed 
to put his vessel between the two hostile ships, and then worked both 
batteries with such vigor, that, after half-an-hour's fighting, the enemy 
was glad to strike. In this action the Americans lost seven men killed, and 
eight wounded. The loss of the enemy was not reported. This capture 
was of the greatest importance to tne American cause, for the two prizes 
were loaded with militar}' and naval stores. 

During the year 1777, the occupation of Philadelphia by the British 
cirmy, under Gen. Howe, led to some activity on the part of the American 
navy. While Philadelphia had been in the possession of the Continentals, 
-'i had been a favorite naval rendezvous. Into the broad channel of the 
Delaware the American cruisers had been accustomed to retreat when 
the British naval force along the coast became threateningly active. 
At the broad wharves of Philadelphia, the men-of-war laid up to have 
necessary repairs made. In the rope-walks of the town, the cordage for 
the gallant Yankee ships was spun. In the busy shipyards along the 
Delaware, many of the frigates, provided for by the Act of 1775, were 
built. 

In the summer of 1777 all this was changed. Sir William Howe, at 
the head of an irresistible army, marched upon Philadelphia; and, defeating 
the American army at Brandywine, entered the city in triumph. The 
privateers and men-of-war scattered hastily, to avoid capture. Most of them 
fled down the Delaware ; but a few, chiefly vessels still uncompleted, 
ascended the river. 

To cut off these vessels, the British immediately commenced the 
erection of batteries to command the channel of the river, and prevent any 
communication between the American vessels above and below Philadelphia. 
To check the erection of these batteries, the American vessels "Delaware" 



128 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

twenty-four, and " Andrea Doria " fourteen, together with one or two 
vessels flying the Pennsylvania flag, took up a position before the incomplete 
earthworks, and opened a heavy fire upon the soldiers employed in the 
trenches. So accurate was the aim of the American gunners, that work 
on the batteries was stopped. But, unluckily, the commander of the 
"Delaware," Capt. Alexander, had failed to reckon on the swift outflowing 
of the tide; and just as the sailors on that ship were becoming jubilant over 
the prospect of a victory, a mighty quiver throughout the ship told that 
she had been left on a shoal by the ebb tide. The enemy was not long 
in discovering the helpless condition of the " Delaware ; " and field-pieces 
and siege-guns were brought down to the river-bank, until the luckless 
Americans saw themselves commanded by a heavy battery. In this 
unhappy predicament there was no course remaining but to strike their 
flag. 

Though the British had possession of Philadelphia, and virtually 
controlled the navigation of the river at that point, the Americans still 
held powerful positions at Red Bank and at Fort Mififiin, lower down the 
river. Against the former post the British sent an unsuccessful land 
expedition of Hessians, but against Fort Mifflin a naval expedition was 
despatched. 

Fort Mifflin was built on a low marshy island near the mouth of the 
Schuylkill. Its very situation, surrounded as it was by mud and water, 
made it impregnable to any land attack. While the fort itself was a fairly 
strong earthwork, laid out upon approved principles of engineering, its 
outer works of defence added greatly to its strength. In the main channels 
of the river were sunk heavy, sharp-pointed chevaiix dc frise, or submarine 
palisades, with sharp points extending just above the surface of the water. 
In addition to this obstacle, the enemy advancing by water upon the fort 
would have to meet the American flotilla, which, though composed of smaii 
craft only, was large enough to prove very annoying to an enemy. In 
this flotilla were thirteen galleys, one carrying a thirty-two pounder, and 
the rest with varying weight of ordnance ; twent--six half-galleys, each 
carrying a four-pounder ; two xebecs, each with two twenty-four-pounders in 
the bow, two eighteen-pounders in the stern, and four nine-pounders in the 
waist ; two floating batteries, fourteen fire-ships, one schooner-galley, one 
brig-galley, one provincial ship, and the brig "Andrea Doria." It was no 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 129 



small naval force that the British had to overcome before attacking the 
mud ramparts and bastions of Fort Mifflin. 

Against this armament the British brought a number of vessels, with 
the "Augusta," sixty-four, in the lead. The battle was begun late in the 
afternoon of the 22d of October, 1777. The attack of the Hessians upon 
the American fortifications at Red Bank, and the opening of the action 
between the British and American fleets, were simultaneous. The Hessians 
were beaten back with heavy loss, some of the American vessels opening 
fire upon them from the river. The naval battle lasted but a short time 
that night, owing to the darkness. When the battle ended for the night, 
the " Augusta," and the " Merlin," sloop-of-war, were left hard and fast 
aground. 

The next morning the British advanced again to the attack. The 
skirmish of the night before had shown them that the Yankee flotilla 
was no mean adversary ; and they now brought up re-inforcements, in the 
shape of the "Roebuck" forty-four, " Isis " thirty-two, "Pearl" thirty- 
two, and " Liverpool " twenty-eight. No sooner had the British squadron 
come within range than a heavy fire was opened upon the fort. The 
American flotilla was prompt to answer the challenge, and soon the action 
became general. Time and time again the Americans sent huge fire- 
ships, their well-tarred spars and rigging blazing fiercely, down among the 
enemy. But the skill and activity of the British sailors warded off this 
danger. Thereupon the Americans, seeing that they could not rely upon 
their fire-ships, changed their plan of action. Any one of the British 
vessels was more than a match for the largest American craft, so the 
Yankees saw they must" rely upon force of numbers. Accordingly their 
larger vessels were each assigned to attack one of the enemy ; while the 
swift-sailing galleys plied to and fro in the battle, lending aid where 
needed, and striking a . blow wherever the opportunity offered itself. 
This course of action soon began to tell upon the British. All of their 
vessels began to show the effects of the American fire. The "Augusta" 
was in flames, owing to some pressed hay that had been packed upon 
her quarter having been set on fire. Despite the efforts of her crew, 
the flames spread rapidly. Seeing no chance to save the vessel, the 
crew abandoned her, and sought to gain the protection of other vessels 
of the British fleet. But the other ships, seeing the flames on the 



I30 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



"Augusta" drawing closer and closer to the magazine, and knowing that 
her explosion in that narrow and crowded channel would work chcatlful 
damage among them, determined to abandon the attack upon I'ort 
..Mifflin, and withdrew. The "Merlin," which was hard and fast aground, 
^.vas fired, and the British fled. As they turned their ships' prows down 
the Delaware, the dull sullen roar of an explosion told that the " Augusta" 
had met her end. Soon after the "Merlin" blew up, and the defeat of 
the British was complete. 

But, though worsted in this attack upon Fort IMifflin, the British did 
not wholly abandon their designs upon it. Immediately upon their 
repulse, they began their preparations for a second attack. This time 
they did not propose to rely upon men-of-war alone. Batteries were built 
upon every point of land within range of Fort Mifflin. Floating batteries 
were built, and towed into position. By the loth of November all was 
ready, and upon that day a tremendous cannonade was opened upon the 
American works. After two days of ceaseless bombardment, the garrison 
of the fort was forced to surrender. Since the fall of Fort Mifflin gave 
the control of the Delaware to the British, the Americans immcdialcly 
put the torch to the "Andrea Doria" fourteen, the "Wasp" eight, and 
the " Hornet " ten ; while the galleys skulked away along tlie Jersey 
coast, in search of places of retreat. 

While the Yankee tars on river and harbor duty were thus getting 
their share of fighting, there was plenty of daring work being done on 
the high seas. One of the most important cruises of the year was that 
of the "Raleigh" and the "Alfred." The "Raleigh" was one of the 
twelve-pounder frigates built under the naval Act of 1775. With her 
consort the "Alfred," she left the American coast in the summer of 
1777, bound for France, in search of naval stores that were there 
awaiting transportation to the United States. Both vessels were short- 
handed. 

On the 2d of September the two vessels overhauled and captured 
the snow "Nancy," from England, bound for the West Indies. Her 
captain reported that he had sailed from the West Indies with a fleet 
of sixty merchantmen, under the convoy of four small men-of-war, the 
"Camel," the "Druid," the "Weasel," and the "Grasshopper." The 
poor sailing qualities of the "Nancy" had forced her to drop behind, 
and the fleet was then about a day in advance of her. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. I3I 



Crowding on all canvas, the two American ships set out in hot 
pursuit. From the captain of the "Nancy" Capt. Thompson of the 
" Raleigh " had obtained all the signals in use in the fleet of Indiamcn. 
The next morning the fleet was made out ; and the " Raleigh " and the 
" Alfred " exchanged signals, as though they were part of the convoy. 
They hang about the outskirts of the fleet until dark, planning, when 
the night should fall, to make a dash into the enemy's midst, and cut 
out the chief armed vessel. 

But at nightfall the wind changed, so that the plan of the Americans 
was defeated. At daylight, however, the wind veered round and fresh- 
ened, so that the " Raleigh," crowding on more sail, was soon in the 
very centre of the enemy's fleet. The "Alfred," unfortunately, being 
unable to carry so great a spread of canvas, was left behind ; and the 
" Raleigh " remained to carry out alone her daring adventure. 

The "Raleigh" boldly steered straight into the midst of the British 
merchantmen, exchanging signals with some, and hailing others. Her 
ports were lowered, and her guns on deck housed, so that there appeared 
about her nothing to indicate her true character. Having cruised about 
amid the merchantmen, she drew up alongside the nearest man-of-war, 
and wdien within pistol-shot, suddenly ran up her flag, threw open hei 
ports, and commanded the enemy to strike. 

All was confusion on board the British vessel. Her officers had never 
for a moment suspected the " Raleigh " of being other than one of their 
own fleet. While they stood aghast, not even keeping the vessel on hei 
course, the "Raleigh" poured in a broadside. The British responded 
faintly with a few guns. Deliberately the Americans let fly anothei 
broadside, which did great execution. The enemy were driven from theii 
guns, but doggedly refused to strike, holding out, doubtless, in the hope 
that the cannonade might draw to their assistance some of the other armed 
ships accompanying the fleet. 

While the unequal combat was raging, a heavy squall came rushing over 
the water. The driving sheets of rain shut in the combatants, and only 
by the thunders of the cannonade could the other vessels tell that a battle 
was being fought in their midst. 

When the squall had passed by, the affrighted merchantmen were seen 
scudding in every direction, like a school of flying-fish into whose midst 



132 DLUIHACKKTS OF '76. 

some rapacious shark or dolphin has intruded himself. But the three 
men-of-war, with several armed Wcst-Indiamen in their wake, were fast 
bearing down upon the combatants, with the obvious intention of rescuing 
their comrade, and punishing the audacious Yankee. 

The odds against Thompson were too great ; and after staying by his 
adversary until the last possible moment, and pouring broadside after 
broadside into her, he abandoned the fight and rejoined the "Alfred." 
The two ships hung on the flanks of the fleet for some days, in the hopes 
of enticing two of the men-of-war out to join in battle. But all was to no 
avail, and the Americans were forced to content themselves with the scant 
glory won in the incomplete action of the " Raleigh." Her adversary 
proved to be the "Druid," twenty, which suffered severely from the 
"Raleigh's" repeated broadsides, having six killed, and twenty-six wounded; 
of the wounded, five died immediately after the battle. 

It was during the year 1777 that occurred the first attempt to use 
gunpowder in the shape of a submarine torpedo. This device, which to-day 
threatens to overturn all established ideas of naval organization and 
architecture, originated with a clever Connecticut mechanic named David 
Bushncll. His invention covered not only submarine torpedoes, to be 
launched against a vessel, but a submarine boat in which an adventurous 
navigator might undertake to go beneath the hull of a man-of-war, and affix 
the torpedoes, so that failure should be impossible. This boat in shape was 
not unlike a turtle. A system of valves, air-pumps, and ballast enabled 
the operator to ascend or descend in the water at will. A screw-propeller 
afforded means of propulsion, and phosphorescent gauges and compasses 
enabled him to steer with some accuracy. 

Preliminary tests made with this craft were uniformly successful. 
After a skilled operator had been obtained, the boat perfectly discharged 
the duties required of her. But, as is so often the case, when the time 
for action came she proved inadequate to the emergency. Let her 
inventor tell the story in his own words: — 

" After various attempts to find an operator to my wish, I sent one, 
who appeared to be more expert than the rest, from New York, to a 
fifty-gun ship, lying not far from Governor's Island. He went under the 
ship, and attempted to fix tlie wooden screw to her bottom, but struck, 
as he supposes, a bar of iron, which passes from the rudder hinge, and 
is spiked under the ship's quarter. Had he moved a few inches, which 



]iLUi:-JACKETS OF '76. 1 33 

he might have done without rowing, I have no doubt he would have 
found wood where he might have fixed the screw ; or, if the ship were 
sheathed with copper, he might easily have pierced it. But not being 
well skilled in the management of the vessel, in attempting to move to 
another place, he lost the ship. After seeking her in vain for some 
time, he rowed some distance, and rose to the surface of the water, but 
found daylight had advanced so far that he durst not renew the attempt. 
He says that he could easily have fastened the magazine under the stern 
of the ship above water, as he rowed up to the stern and touched it 
before he descended. Had he fastened it there, the explosion of a 
hundred and fifty pounds of powder (the quantity contained in the 
magazine) must have been fatal to the ship. In his return from the ship 
to New York, he passed near Governor's Island, and thought he was 
discovered by the enemy on the island. Being in haste to avoid the 
danger he feared, he cast off the magazine, as he imagined it retarded 
him in the swell, which was very considerable. After the magazine had 
been cast off one hour; the lime the internal apparatus was set to run. 
it blew up with great violence. 

"Afterwards there were two attempts made in Hudson's River, above 
the city ; but they effected nrthing. One of them was by the afore, 
mentioned person. In going toward the ship, he lost sight of her, and 
went a great distance beyond her. When he at length found her, the 
tide ran so strong, that, as he descended under water, for the ship's 
bottom, it swept him away. S^-^n after this, the eaemv went up the 
river, and pursued the boat which had the submarine vessel on board, 
and sunk it with their shot." 

So it appears, that, so far as tl.is submarine vessel was concerned, 
Bushnell's great invention came to naught. And, indeed, it was but the 
first of a long line of experiments which have been terribly costly in 
human life, and which as yet have not been brought to a successful 
end In every war there comes forward the inventor with the submarine 
boat, and he always finds a few brave men ready to risk their lives in 
the floating coffin. Somewhere in Charleston Harbor to-day lies a sub- 
marine boat, enclosing the skeletons of eight men, who went ">ut in it 
to break the blockade of the port during the civil war. And although 
there are to-day several types of submarine boat, each of which "s 
claimed to make practicable the navigation of the ocean's derths, vet 



134 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



it is doubtful whether any of them are much safer than Bushncll's 
primitive "turtle." 

But Bushncll's experiments in torpedo warfare were not confined to 
attempts to destroy hostile vessels by means of his submarine vessel 
He made several attacks upon the enemy by means of automatic tor- 
pedoes, none of which met with complete success. One of these attacks, 
made at Philadelphia in December, 1777, furnished the incident upon 
which is founded the well-known ballad of the " Battle of the Kegs." 

It was at a time when the Delaware was filled with British shipping, 
that Bushncl] set adrift upon its swift-flowing tide a number of small 
kegs, filled with giNipowder, and provided with percussion apparatus, so 
that contact with any object would explode them. The kegs were 
started on their voyage at night. But Bushnell had miscalculated the 
distance they had to travel ; so that, instead of reaching the British 
fleet under cover of darkness, they arrived early in the morning. Great 
was the wonder of the British sentries, on ship and shore, to see the 
broad bosom of the river dotted with floating kegs. As the author of 
the satirical ballad describes it, — 

" 'Tvvas early clay, as poets say. 
Just as the sun was rising; 
A soldier stood on a log of wood 

And saw the sun a-rising. 

As in amaze he stood to gaze 

(The truth can't be denied, sir), 
He spied a score of kegs, or more, 

Come floating down the tide, sir. 

A sailor, too, in jerkin blue, 

The strange appearance viewing, 
First d d liis eyes in great surprise, 

Then said, ' Some mischief's brewing.' 



These kegs, I'm told, tlie rebels hold, 
Packed up like pickled herring; 

And they've come down to attack the town 
In tliis new way of feiTying." 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 135 



The curiosity of the British at this inexplicable spectacle gave place 
to alarm, when one of the kegs, being picked up, blew up a boat, and 
seriously injured the man whose curiosity had led him to examine it too 
closely. Half panic-stricken, the British got out their guns, great and 
small ; and all day every small object on the Delaware was the target 
for a lively fusillade. 

"The cannons roar from sliore to shore, 
The small arms loud did rattle. 
Since wars began, I'm sure no man 
E'er saw so strange a battle. 

The fish below swam to and fro, 

Attacked from every quarter. 
' Why sure ' (thought they), ' the devil's to pay, 

'Mong folk above the water.' " 

But in the end the kegs all floated by the city, and only the 
tinnnunition stores of the British suffered from the attack. 

Another attempt was made by Bushnell to destroy the British frigate 
"Cerberus," lying at anchor off the Connecticut coast. A torpedo, with 
the usual percussion apparatus, was drawn along the side of the frigate 
by a long line, but fouled with a schooner lying astern. The explosion 
occurred with frightful force, and the schooner was wholly demolished. 
Three men who were on board of her were blown to pieces ; and a 
fourth was thrown high into the air, and was picked out of the water 
in an almost dying condition. 

These experiments of the Connecticut mechanic in the Revolutionary 
war were the forerunner of a movement which took almost a hundred 
years to become generally accepted. We have been accustomed to say 
that Ericsson's armor-clad monitor revolutionized naval warfare ; but the 
perfection of the torpedo is forcing tlie armor-clad ships into disuse, 
as they in their day thrust aside the old wooden frigates. The wise 
nation to-day, seeing how irrcsistii)le is the power of the torpedo, is 
abandoning the construction of cumbrous iron-clads, and building light, 
swift cruisers, that by speed and easy steering can avoid the submarine 
enemy. And if the torpedo cannot be said to be the ideal weapon of 



136 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

chivalric warfare, it may at least in time be credited with doing away 
with the custom of cooping men up in wrought-iron boxes, to fight with 
machine guns. Farragut, who hated iron-clads, liked torpedoes little 
better ; but had he foreseen their effects upon naval tactics, he might 
have hailed them as the destroyers of the iron-clad ships. 



wH<«<»^ 





-#X V IN THE NAA\E 



^1 / TrPvEAT Britain:- 




CHAPTER XII. 



NAVAL EVENTS OF 177S. — RECRUITING FOR THE NAVY. —THE DESCENT UPON NEW PROVI- 
DENCE. — OPERATIONS ON THE DELAWARE. —CAPT. BARRVS EXPLOITS. — DESTRUCTION 
OF THE AMERICAN FRIGATES. — AMERICAN REVERSES. —THE CAPTURE OF THE " PIGOT." 
— FRENCH NAVAL EXPLOITS. 




HE year 177S opened with the brightest prospects for the 
American cause. The notable success of the American arms 
on land, and particularly the surrender of Burgoyne, had 
favorably disposed France toward an alliance with the United 
States ; and, in fact, this alliance was soon formed. Furthermore, the 
evidence of the prowess of the Americans on shore had stirred up 
the naval authorities to vigorous action, and it was determined to make 
'.he year 1778 a notable one upon the ocean. 

Much difficulty was found, at the very outset, in getting men to ship 
for service on the regular cruisers. Privateers were being fitted oat in 
every port ; and on them the life was easy, discipline slack, danger to 
life small, and the prospects for financial reward far greater than on the 
United States men-of-war. Accordingly, the seafaring men as a rule 

137 



138 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



preferred to ship on the privateers. At no time in the history of the 
United States has the barbaric British custom of getting sailors for 
the navy by means of the "press-gang" been followed. American blue- 
jackets have never been impressed by force. It is unfortunately true 
that unfair advantages have been taken of their simplicity, and some- 
times they have even been shipped while under the influence of liquor ; 
but such cases have been rare. It is safe to say that few men have 
ever trod the deck of a United States man-of-war, as members of the 
crew, without being there of their own free will and accord. 

But in 1777 it was sometimes hard to fill the ships' rosters. Then 
the ingenuity of the recruiting ofificers was called into play. A sailor 
who served on the " Protector " during the Revolution thus tells the 
story of his enlistment: — 

" All means were resorted to which ingenuity could devise to induce 
men to enlist. A recruiting officer, bearing a flag, and attended by a 
band of martial music, paraded the streets, to excite a thirst for glory 
and a spirit of military ambition. The recruiting officer possessed the 
qualifications necessary to make the service appear alluring, especially 
to the young. He was a jovial, good-natured fellow, of ready wit and 
much broad humor. When he espied any large boys among the idle 
crowd around him, he would attract their attention by singing in a 
comical manner the following doggerel, — 

' All you that have bad masters. 

And cannot get your due, 

Come, come, my brave boys. 

And join our ship's crew.' 

"A shout and a huzza would follow, and some would join in the 
ranks. My excitable feelings were aroused. I repaired to the rendez- 
vous, signed the ship's papers, mounted a cockade, and was, in my own 
estimation, already more than half a sailor. Appeals continued to be 
made to the patriotism of every young man, to lend his aid, by his 
exertions on sea or land, to free his country from the common enemy 
About the last of February the ship was ready to receive her crew, and 
was hauled off into the channel, that the sailors might have no oppor- 
tunity to run away after they were got on board. Upward of three 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 139 

hundred and thirty men were carried, dragged, and driven on board, of 
all kinds, ages, and descriptions, in all the various stages of intoxication, 
from that of sober tipsiness to beastly drunkenness, with an uproar and 
clamor that may be more easily imagined than described." 

But, whatever the methods adopted to secure recruits for the navy, 
the men thus obtained did admirable service ; and in no year did they 
win more glory than in 1778. 

As usual the year's operations were opened by an exploit of one of 
the smaller cruisers. This was the United States sloop-of-war " Provi- 
dence," a trig little vessel, mounting only twelve four-pounders, and 
carrying a crew of but fifty men. But she was in command of a daring 
seaman Capt. Rathburne, and she opened the year's hostilities with an 
exploit worthy of Paul Jones. 

Off the south-eastern coast of Florida, in that archipelago or collection 
of groups of islands known collectively as the West Indies, lies the 
small island of New Providence. Here in 1778 was a small British 
colony. The well-protected harbor, and the convenient location of the 
island, made it a favorite place for the rendezvous of British naval 
vessels Indeed, it bid fair to become, what Nassau is to-day, the chief 
British naval station on the American coast. In 1778 the little seaport 
had a population of about one thousand people. 

With his little vessel, and her puny battery of four-pounders, Capt. 
Rathburne determined to undertake the capture of New Providence. 
Only the highest daring, approaching even recklessness, could have con- 
ceived such a plan. The harbor was defended by a fort of no mean 
power. There was always one British armed vessel, and often more, 
lying at anchor under the guns of the fort. Two hundred of the people 
of the town were able-bodied men, able to bear arms. How, then, were 
the Yankees, with their puny force, to hope for success ? This query 
Rathburne answered, " By dash and daring." 

It was about eleven o'clock on the night of the 27th of January, 
1778, that the "Providence" cast anchor in a sheltered cove near the 
entrance to the harbor of New Providence. Twenty-five of her crew 
were put ashore, and being re-enforced by a few American prisoners 
kept upon the island, made a descent upon Fort Nassau from its land- 
w-,a side. The sentries dozing at their posts were easily overpowered. 



I40 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



and the garrison was aroused from its peaceful slumbers b)- the cheers 
of the Yankee blue-jackets as they came tumbling in over the ramparts. 
A rocket sent up from the fort announced the victory to the " Providence," 
and she came in and cast anchor near the fort. 

When morning broke, the Americans saw a large si.xteen-gun ship 
lying at anchor in the harbor, together with five sail that looked sus- 
piciously like captured American merchantmen. The proceedings of the 
night had been quietly carried on, and the crew of the armed vessel had 
no reason to suspect that the condition of affairs on shore had been 
changed in any way during the night. But at daybreak a boat carrying 
four men put off from the shore, and made for the armed ship ; and at 
the same time a flag was flung out from the flag-staff of the fort, — not 
the familiar scarlet flag of Great Britain, but the almost unknown stars 
and stripes of the United States. 

The sleepy sailors on the armed vessel rubbed their eyes ; and while 
they were staring at the strange piece of bunting, there came a hail from 
a boat alongside, and an American officer clambered over the rail. He 
curtly told the captain of the privateer that the fort was in tlie hands of 
the Americans, and called upon him to surrender his vessel forthwith. 
Resistance was useless ; for the heavy guns of Fort Nassau were trained 
upon the British ship, and could blow her out of the water. The visitor's 
arguments proved to be unanswerable ; and the captain of the privateer 
surrendered his vessel, which was taken possession of by the Americans; 
while her crew of forty-five men was ordered into confinement in the dungeons 
of the fort which had so lately held captive Americans. Other boarding 
parties were then sent to the other vessels in the harbor, which proved 
to be American craft, captured by the British sloop-of-war "Gray ton." 

At sunrise the sleeping town showed signs of reviving life, and a 
party of the audacious Yankees marched down to the house of the 
governor. That functionary was found in bed, and in profound ignorance 
of the events of the night. The Americans broke the news to him none 
too gently, and demanded the keys of a disused fortress on the opposite 
side of the harbor from Fort Nassau. For a time the governor was 
inclined to demur ; but the determined attitude of the Americans soon 
persuaded him that he was a prisoner, though in his own house, and he 
ilelivered the keys. Thereupon the Americans marched through the streets 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '^6. H' 

of the city, around the harbor's edge to the fort, spiked the guns, and 
carrying with them the powder and small-arms, marched back to Fort 
Nassau. 

But by this time it was ten o'clock, and the whole town was aroused. 
The streets were crowded with people eagerly discussing the invasion. 
The timid ones were busily packing up their goods to fly into the 
country ; while the braver ones were hunting for weapons, and organizing 
for an attack upon the fort held by the Americans. Fearing an out- 
break, Capt. Rathburne sent out a flag of truce, making proclamation to 
all the inhabitants of New Providence, that the Americans would do no 
damage to the jDersons or property of the people of the island unless 
compelled so to do in self-defence. This pacified the more temperate of 
the inhabitants ; but the hotheads, to the number of about two hundred, 
assembled before Fort Nassau, and threatened to attack it. But, when 
they summoned Rathburne to surrender, that officer leaped upon the 
parapet, and coolly told the assailants to come on. 

"We can beat you back easily," said he. "And, by the Eternal, it 
you fire a gun at us, we'll turn the guns of the fort on your town, and 
lay it in ruins." 

This bold defiance disconcerted the enemy ; and, after some consul- 
tation among themselves, they dispersed. 

About noon that day, the British sloop-of-war " Grayton " made her 
appearance, and stood boldly into the harbor where lay the "Providence." 
The United States colors were quickly hauled down from the fort flag- 
staff, and every means was taken to conceal the true state of affairs 
from the enemy. But the inhabitants along the waterside, by means of 
constant signalling and shouting, at last aroused the suspicion of her 
officers ; and she hastily put about, and scudded for the open sea. The 
guns at Fort Nassau opened on her as she passed, and the aim of 
the Yankee gunners was accurate enough to make the splinters fly. The 
exact damage done her has, however, never been ascertained. 

All that night the daring band of blue-jackets held the fort unmo- 
lested. But on the following morning the townspeople again plucked 
up courage, and to the number of five hundred marched to the fort, and 
placing several pieces of artillery in battery, summoned the garrison to 
surrender. The flag of truce that bore the summons carried also the 



142 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



threat, that, unless the Americans laid down their arms without resistance, 
the fort would be stormed, and all therein put to the sword without 
mercy. 

For answer to the summons, the Americans nailed their colors to 
the mast, and swore that while a man of them lived the fort should not 
be surrendered. By this bold defiance they so awed the enemy that 
the day passed without the e.xpected assault ; and at night the besiegers 
returned to their homes, without having fired a shot. 

All that night the Americans worked busily, transferring to the 
"Providence" all the ammunition and stores in the fort; and the ne.xt 
morning the prizes were manned, the guns of the fort spiked, and the 
adventurous Yankees set sail in triumph. For three days they had held 
possession of the island, though outnumbered tenfold by the inhabitants ; 
they had captured large quantities of ammunition and naval stores ; they 
had freed their captured countrymen ; they had retaken from the British 
five captured American vessels, and in the whole affair they had lost 
not a single man. It was an achievement of which a force of triple the 
number might have been proud. 

In I'cbruary, 1778, the Delaware, along the water-front of Philadelphia, 
was the scene of some dashing work by American sailors, under the 
command of Capt. John Barry. This officer was in command of the 
" Eflfingham," one of the vessels which had been trapped in the Dela- 
ware by the unexpected occupation of Philadelphia by the British. The 
inactivity of the vessels, which had taken refuge at Whitehall, was 
a sore disappointment to Barry, who longed for the excitement and 
dangers of actual battle. With the British in force at Philadelphia, it 
was madness to think of taking the frigates down the stream. But 
Barry rightly thought that what could not be done with a heavy ship 
might be done with a few light boats. 

Philadelphia was then crowded with British troops. The soldiers 
were well provided w-ith money, and, finding themselves quartered in a 
city for the winter, led a life of continual gayety. The great accession 
to the jiopulation of the town made it necessary to draw upon the 
country far and near for provisions ; and boats were continuall)' plying 
upon the Delaware, carrying provisions to the city. To intercept some 
of these boats, and to give the merry British officers a taste of 
starvation, was Barry's plan. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. H3 



Accordingly four boats were manned with well-armed crews, and with 
muffled oars set out on a dark night to patrol the river. Philadelphia 
was reached, and the expedition was almost past the city, when the 
sentries on one of the British men-of-war gave the alarm. A few 
scattering shots were fired from the shore ; but the jackies bent to their 
oars, and the boats were soon lost to sight in the darkness. When day 
broke, Barry was far down the river. 

Opposite the little post held by the American army, and called Fort 
Penn, Barry spied a large schooner, mounting ten guns, and flying the 
British flag. With her were four transport ships, loaded with forage for 
the enemy's forces. Though the sun had risen, and it was broad day, 
Barry succeeded in running his boats alongside the schooner ; and before 
the British suspected the presence of any enemy, the blue-jackets were 
clambering over the rail, cutlass and pistol in hand. There was no 
resistance. The astonished Englishmen threw down their arms, and 
rushed below. The victorious Americans battened down the hatches^ 
ordered the four transports to surrender, on pain of being fired into, 
and triumphantly carried all five prizes to the piers of Fort Penn. 
There the hatches were removed ; anil, the Yankee sailors being drawn 
up in line, Barry ordered the prisoners to come on deck. When all 
appeared, it was found that the Yankees had bagged one major, two 
captains, three lieutenants, ten soldiers, and about a hundred sailors and 
marines, — a very respectable haul for a party of not more than thirty / 
American sailors. 

The ne.\t day a British frigate and sloop-of-war appeared down the 
bay. They were under full sail, and were apparently making for Fort 
Penn, with the probable intention of recapturing Barry's prizes. P^earing 
that he might be robbed of the fruits of his victory, Barry put the four 
transports in charge of Capt. Middleton, with instructions to fire them 
should the enemy attempt to cut them out. In the mean time, he took 
the ten-gun schooner, and made for the Christiana River, in the hopes 
of taking her into shallow waters, whither the heavier British vessels 
could not follow. But, unluckily for his plans, the wind fa\-orcd the 
frigate ; and she gained upon him so rapidly, that only by the greatest 
t'.xpcdition could he run his craft ashore and escape. Two of tlie guns 
were pointed down the main hatch, and a few rounds of round-shot were 



-44 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



fired thri>LiL;h the schooner's bottom. She sunk quickly; and the Ameri- 
cans pushed off from her side, just as the British frigate swung into 
position, and let Ry her broadside at her escaping foes. 

The schooner being thus disposed of, the British turned their atten- 
tion to the four captured transports at Fort Penn. Capt. Middleton and 
Capt. McLane, who commanded the American militia on shore, had taken 
advantage of the delay to build a battery of bales of hay near the piers. 
The British sloop-of-war opened the attack, but the sharp-shooters in the 
battery and on the transports gave her so warm a reception that she re- 
tired. She soon returned to the attack, but was checked by the American 
fire, and might have been beaten off, had not Middleton received a 
mortal wound while standing on the battery and cheering on his men. 
Dismayed by the fall of their leader, the Americans set fire to the 
transport and fled to the woods, leaving the British masters of the field 
/ Carry's conduct in this enterprise won for him the admiration of 
/friend and foe alike. Sir William Howe, then commander-in-chief of the 
j British forces in America, offered the daring American twenty thousand 
/ guineas and the command of a British frigate, if he would derert the 
service of the United States. 

" Not the value and command of the whole British fleet," wrote 
Barry in reply, "can seduce me from the cause of my country." 

After this adventure, Barry and his followers made their way through 
the woods back to Whitehall, where his ship the " Effingham " was lying 
at anchor. Here he passed the winter in inactivity. At Whitehall, and 
near that place, were nearly a dozen armed ships, frigates, sloops, 
and privateers. All had fled thither for safety when the British took 
possession of Philadelphia, and now found themselves caught in a trap. 
To run the blockade of British batteries and men-of-war at Philadelphia, 
vas impossible ; and there was nothing to do but wait until the enemy 
i'.iould evacuate the city. 

But the British were in no haste to leave Philadelphia ; and when 
they did get ready to leave, they determined to destroy the American 
flotilla before departing. Accordingly on the 4th of May, 177S, the 
water-front of the Quaker City was alive with soldiers and citizens 
watching the embarkation of the troops ordered against the American 
forces at Whitehall. On the placid bosom of the Delaware floated the 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 145 

schooners "Viper" and "Pembroke," the galleys "Hussar," " Cornwallis," 
" Ferret," and " Philadelphia," four gunboats, and eighteen flat-boats. 
Between this fleet and the shore, boats were busily plying, carrying off 
the soldiers of the light infantry, seven hundred of whom were detailed 
for the expedition. It was a holiday affair. The British expected little 
fighting ; and with flags flying, and bands playing, the vessels started up 
stream, the cheers of the soldiers on board mingling with those on the 
shore. 

Bristol, the landing-place chosen, was soon reached ; and the troops 
disembarked without meeting with any opposition. Forming in solid 
column, the soldiers took up the march for Whitehall ; but, when within 
five miles of that place, a ruddy glare in the sky told that the Americans 
had been warned of their coming, and had set the torch to the shipping. 
When the head of the British column entered Whitehall, the two new 
American frigates " Washington " and " Effingham " were wrapped in 
flames. Both were new vessels, and neither had yet taken on board her 
battery. Several other vessels were lying at the wharves ; and to these 
the British set the torch, and continued their march, leaving the roaring 
flames behind them. A little farther up the Delaware, at the point 
known as Crosswise Creek, the large privateer "Sturdy Beggar" was 
found, together with several smaller craft. The crews had all fled, and 
the deserted vessels met the fate of the other craft taken by the invaders. 
Then the British turned their steps homeward, and reached Philadelphia, 
after having burned almost a score of vessels, and fired not a single 
shot. 

On the high seas during 1778 occurred several notable naval engage- 
ments. Of the more important of these we have spoken in our accounts 
of the exploits of Tucker, Biddle, and Paul Jones. The less important 
ones must be dismissed with a hasty word. 

It may be said, that, in general, the naval actions of 1778 went against 
the Americans. In February of that year the "Alfred" was captured 
by a British frigate, and the " Raleigh " narrowly escaped. In March, 
the new frigate " Virginia," while beating out of Chesapeake Bay on her 
very first cruise, ran aground, and was captured by the enemy. In 
September, the United States frigate "Raleigh," when a few days out 
from Boston, fell in with two British vessels, — one a frigate, and the other 



146 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

a ship-of-the-line. Capt. Barry, whose daring exploits on the Delaware we 
have chronicled, was in command of the "Raleigh," and gallantly gave 
hattle to the frigate, which was in the lead. Between these two vessels 
the conflict raged with great fury for upwards of two hours, when the 
fore-topmast and mizzen top-gallant-mast of the American having been 
shot away Barry attempted to close the conflict by boarding. The 
enemy kept at a safe distance, however ; and his consort soon coming up, 
the Americans determined to seek safety in flight. The enemy pursued, 
keeping up a rapid fire ; and the running conflict continued until mid- 
night. Finally Barry set fire to his ship, and with the greater part of 
his crew escaped to the nearest land, an island near the mouth of the 
Penobscot. The British immediately boarded the abandoned ship, 
extinguished the flames, and carried their prize away in triumph. 

To offset these reverses to the American arms, there were one or 
two victories for the Americans, aside from those won by Paul Jones, 
and the exploits of privateers and colonial armed vessels, which we 
shall group together in a later chapter. The first of these victories was 
won by an army officer, who was later transferred to the navy, and won 
great honor in the naval service. 

In an inlet of Narragansett Bay, near Newport, the British had 
anchored a powerful floating battery, made of the dismasted hulk of the 
schooner " Pigot," on which were mounted twelve eight-pounders and ten 
swivel guns. It was about the time that the fleet sent by France to aid 
the United States was expected to arrive ; and the British had built and 
placed in position this battery, to close the channel leading to Newport. 
Major Silas Talbot, an army officer who had won renown earlier in the 
war by a daring but unsuccessful attempt to destroy two British frigates 
in the Hudson River, by means of fire-ships, obtained permission to lead 
an expedition for the capture of the "Pigot." Accordingly, with sixty 
picked men, he set sail from Providence in the sloop " Hawk," mounting 
three three-pounders. When within a few miles of the "Pigot," he 
landed, and, borrowing a horse, rode down and reconnoitred the battery. 
When the night set in, he returned to the sloop, and at once weighed anchor 
and made for the enemy. As the " Hawk " drew near the " Pigot," the 
British sentinels challenged her, and receiving no reply, fired a volley 
of musketry, which injured no one. On came the "Hawk," under a 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. H? 

full spread of canvas. A kedge-anchor had been lashed to the end of 
her bowsprit ; and, before the British could reload, this crashed through 
the boarding-nettings of the " Pigot," and caught in the shrouds. The 
two vessels being fast, the Americans, with ringing cheers, ran along 
the bowsprit, and dropped on the deck of the " Pigot." The surprise 
was complete. The British captain rushed on deck, clad only in his 
shirt and drawers, and strove manfully to rally his crew. But as the 
Americans, cutlass and pistol in hand, swarmed over the taffrail, the 
surprised British lost heart, and fled to the hold, until at last the cap- 
tain found himself alone upon the deck. Nothing was left for him but 
to surrender with the best grace possible ; and soon Talbot was on his 
w/iy back to Providence, with his prize and a shipful of prisoners. 

But perhaps the greatest naval event of 1778 in American waters 
was the arrival of the fleet sent by P'rance to co-operate with the 
American forces. Not that any thing of importance was ever accom- 
plished by this naval force : the French ofificers seemed to find their 
greatest satisfaction in manoeuvring, reconnoitring, and performing ii. 
the most e.xact and atlmirable manner all the preliminaries to a battle. 
Having done this, they would sail away, never firing a gun. The 
Yankees were prone to disregard the nice points of naval tactics. Their 
plan was to lay their ships alongside the enemy, and pound away until 
one side or the other had to yield or sink. But the French allies were 
strong on tactics, and somewhat weak in dash ; and, as a result, there 
is not one actual combat in which they figured to be recorded. 

It was a noble fleet that France sent to the aid of the struggling 
Americans, — twelve ships-of-the-line and three frigates. What dashing 
Paul Jones would have done, had he ever enjoyed the command of such 
a fleet, almost passes imagination. Certain it is that he would have 
wasted little time in formal evolutions. But the fleet was commanded by 
Count d'Estaing, a French naval oflficer of honorable reputation. What 
he accomplished during his first year's cruise in American waters, can 
be told in a few words. His intention was to trap Lord Howe's fleet 
in the Delaware, but he arrived too late. He then followed the British to 
New York, but was baffled there by the fact that his vessels were too 
heavy to cross the bar. Thence he went to Newport, where the appear- 
ance of his fleet frightened the British into burning: four of their 



148 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

frij^atcs, an;l sinlcin^ two si oops- of -war. Lord IIowc, hearing of this, 
plucked up courage, and, gathering together all liis ships, sailed from 
Mew York to Newport, to give battle to the French. The two fleets 
were about equally matched. On the loth of August the enemies met 
i:i the open sea, off Newport. For two days they kept out of range of 
each other, manoeuvring for the weather-gage ; that is, the French fleet, 
being to windward of the British, strove to keep that position, while tlie 
British endeavored to take it from them. The third day a gale arose ; 
and when it subsided the ships were so crippled, that, after exchanging 
a few harmless broadsides at long range, they withdrew, and the naval 
battle was ended. 

Such was the record of D'Estaing's magnificent fleet during 177,8. 
Certainly the Americans had little to learn from the representatives of 
the power that had for years contended with England for the mastery 
of the seas. 



"^-''..V 







CHAPTER XIII. 



LAST YEARS OF THE WAR. — DISASTROUS EXPE- 
DITION TO THE PENOBSCOT. — WHOLESALE 
CAPTURES ON THE NEWFOUNDLAND BANKS.— 
FRENCH SHIPS IN AMERICAN WATERS. — TAK- 
ING OF CHARLESTON. —THE "TRUMBULL'S" 
VICTORY AND DEFEAT. — CAPT. BA RY AND 
THE "ALLIANCE." — CLOSE OF THE WAR. 




HE year 1779 is chiefly known in American naval history as the 
year in which Paul Jones did his most brilliant service in the 
"Bon Homme Richard." The glory won by the Americans wa,- 
chiefly gained in European waters. Along the coast of the 
United States, there were some dashing actions ; but the advant.age 
generally remained with the British. 

Perhaps the most notable naval event of this year, aside from the 
battle between the " Bon Homme Richard " and the " Serapis," was 
the expedition sent by the State of Massachusetts against the British 
post at Castine, on the banks of the Penobscot River. At this unim- 
portant settlement in the wilds of Maine, the British had established a 
military post, with a garrison of about a thousand men, together with 
four armed vessels. Here they might have been permitted to remain in 
peace, so far as any danger from their presence was to be apprehended 
by the people of New England. But the sturdy citizens of Massachusetts 
had boasted, that, since the evacuation of Boston, no British soldier haJ 
dared to set foot on Massachusetts soil ; and the news of this invasioii 
caused the people of Boston to rise as one man, and demand that the 
invaders should be e.vpelled. 

Accordingly a joint naval and military expedition was fitted out under 
authority granted by the Legislature of the State, Congress detailed 

149 



I50 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

he United States frigate " Warren," and the sloops-of-war " Diligence " 
and " Providence," to head the expedition. The Massachusetts cruisers 
"Hazard," "Active," and "Tyrannicide" represented the regular naval 
forces of the Bay State ; and twelve armed vessels belonging to private 
citizens were hiixd, to complete the armada. The excitement among 
seafaring men ran high. Every man who had ever swung a cutlass or 
sighted a gun was anxious to accompany the expedition. Ordinarily it 
was difficult to ship enough men for the navy ; now it was impossible to 
take all the applicants. It is even recorded that the list of common 
sailors on the armed ship "Vengeance" included thirty masters of 
merchantmen, who waived all considerations of rank, in order that they 
might join the expedition. 

To co-operate with the fleet, a military force was thought necessary ; 
and accordingly orders were issued for fifteen hundred of the militia of 
the district of Maine to assemble at Townscnd. Brig.-Gen. Sullivan was 
appointed to the command of the land forces, while Capt. Saltonstall of 
> ic " Warren " was made commodore of the fleet. 

Punctually on the day appointed the white sails of the American 
ships were seen by the militiamen at the appointed rendezvous. But 
when the ships dropped anchor, and the commodore went ashore to 
consult vv'ith the officers of the land forces, he found that but nine 
hundred of the militiamen had responded to the call. Nevertheless, it 
was determined, after a brief consultation, to proceed with the expedition, 
despite the sadly diminished strength of the militia battalions. 

On the 23d of July, the fleet set sail from the harbor of Townsend. 
It was an extraordinary and impressive spectacle. The shores of the 
harbor were covered with unbroken forests, save at the lower end where 
a little hamlet of scarce five hundred people gave a touch of civilization 
to the wild scene. But the water looked as though the commerce of a 
I'ozen cities had centred there. On the placid bosom of the little bay 
lloated forty-four vessels. The tread of men about the capstans, fhe 
hoarse shouts of command, the monotonous songs of the sailors, the 
creaking of cordage, and the flapping of sails gave an unwonted turbu- 
lence to the air which seldom bore a sound other than the voices of 
birds or the occasional blows of a woodman's axe. Nineteen vessels-of- 
war and twenty-five transports imparted to the harbor of Townsend an 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



air of life and bustle to which it had been a stranger, and which it has 
never since experienced. 

The weather was clear, and the wind fair ; so that two days after 
leaving Townsend the fleet appeared before the works of the enemy. 
Standing on the quarter-deck of the "Warren," the commodore and the 
general eagerly scanned the enemy's defences, and after a careful exam- 
ination were forced to admit that the works they had to carry were 
no mean specimens of the art of fortification. The river's banks rose 
almost perpendicularly from the water-side, and on their crest were 
perched the enemy's batteries, while on a high and precipitous hill was 
built a fort or citadel. In the river were anchored the four armed 
vessels. 

Two days were spent by the Americans in reconnoitring the enemy's 
works ; and on the 28th of July the work of disembarking the troops 
began, under a heavy fire from the enemy's batteries. The "Warren" 
and one of the sloops-of-war endeavored to cover the landing party by 
attacking the batteries ; and a spirited cannonade followed, in which the 
American flag-ship suffered seriously. At last all the militia, together 
with three hundred marines, were put on shore, and at once assaulted 
the batteries. They were opposed by about an equal number of well- 
drilled Scotch regulars, and the battle raged fiercely ; the men-of-war in 
the river covering the advance of the troops by a spirited and well- 
directed fire. More than once the curving line of men rushed against 
the fiery front of the British ramparts, and recoiled, shattered by the 
deadly volleys of the Scotch veterans. Here and there, in the grass and 
weeds, the forms of dead men began to be seen. The pitiable spectacle 
of the wounded, painfully crawling to the rear, began to make the pulse of 
the bravest beat quicker. But the men of Massachusetts, responsive to 
the voices of their officers, re-formed their shattered ranks, and charged 
again and again, until at last, with a mighty cheer, they swept over the 
ramparts, driving the British out. Many of the enemy surrendered; 
more fled for shelter to the fort on the hill. The smoke and din of 
battle died away. There came a brief respite in the bloody strife. The 
Americans had won the first trick in the bloody game of war. 

Only a short pause followed ; then the Americans moved upon the 
fort. But here they found themselves overmatched. Against the tower- 



152 l!LUE-J.\fKKJS OF '76. 



1 



ing bastions of the fortress they might hurl themselves in vain. The 
enemy, safe behind its heavy parapets, could mow down their advancing 
ranl<s with a cool and deliberate fire. The assailants had already sacri- 
ficed more than a hundred men. Was it wise new to order an assault 
that might lead to the loss of twice that number ? 

The hotheads cried out for the immediate storming of the fort ; but 
cooler counsels prevailed, and a siege was decided upon. Trenches were 
dug, the" guns in the outlying batteries were turned upon the fort, and 
the New Englanders sat down to wait until the enemy should be starved 
out, or until re-enforcements might be brought from Boston. 

So for three weeks the combatants rested on their arms, glaring at 
,'ach other over the ttps of their breastworks, and now and then 
exchanging a shot or a casual volley, but doing little in the way oi 
actual hostilities. Provisions were failing the British, and they began 
to feel that they were in a trap from whicli they could only emerge 
through a surrender, when suddenly the situation was changed, and the 
.'ortunes of war went against the Americans. 

One morning the "Tyrannicide," which was stationed on the lookout 
down the bay, was seen beating up the river, under a full press of sail. 
Signals flying at her fore indicated that she had imjjortant news to tell. 
Her anchor had not touched the bottom before a boat pushed off from 
her side, and made straight for the commodore's flagship. Reaching the 
" Warren," a lieutenant clambered over the side, and saluted Commodore 
Saltonstall on the quarter-deck. 

"Capt. Cathcart's compliments, sir," said he, "and five British men- 
of-war are just entering the bay. The first one appears to be the 
' Rainbow,' forty-four." 

Here was news indeed. Though superior in numbers, the Americans 
were far inferior in weight of metal. After a hasty consultation, it was 
determined to abandon the siege, and retreat with troops and vessels to 
the shallow waters of the Penobscot, whither the heavy men-of-war of the 
enemy would be unable to follow them. Accordingly the troops were 
hastily re-embarked, and a hurried flight began, which was great!)' 
accelerated by the appearance of the enemy coming up the river. 

The chase did not continue long before it became evident the enemy 
would overhaul the retreating shijis. Soon he came within range, and 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 153 

opened fire with his bow-guns, in the hopes of crippling one of the 
American ships. The fire was returned ; and for several hours the 
wooded shores of the Penobscot echoed and re-echoed the thunders of 
the cannonade, as the warring fleets swept up the river. 

At last the conviction forced itself on the minds of the Americans, 
that for them there was no escape. The British were steadily gaining 
upon them, and there was no sign of the shoal water in which they had 
hoped to find a refuge. It would seem that a bold dash might have 
carried the day for the Americans, so greatly did they outnumber their 
enemies. But this plan does not appear to have suggested itself to 
Capt. Saltonstall, who had concentrated all his efforts upon the attempt 
to escape. When escape proved to be hopeless, his only thought was to 
destroy his vessels. Accordingly his flagship, the " Warren," was run 
ashore, and set on fire. The action of the commodore was imitated by 
the rest of the officers, and soon the banks of the river were lined with 
blazing vessels. The "Hunter," the "Hampden," and one transport fell 
into the hands of the British. The rest of the forty-nine vessels — men- 
of-war, privateers, and transports — that made up the fleet were destroyed 
by flames. 

It must indeed have been a stirring spectacle. The shores of the 
Penobscot River were then a trackless wilderness ; the placid bosom of 
the river itself had seldom been traversed by a heavier craft than the 
slender birch-bark canoe of the red man; yet here was this river crowded 
with shipping, the dark forests along its banks lighted up by the glare 
of twoscore angry fires. Through the thickets and underbrush parties of 
excited men broke their way, seeking for a common point of meeting, 
out of range of the cannon of the enemy. The British, meantime, were 
striving to extinguish the flames, but with little success ; and before 
the day ended, little remained of the great Massachusetts flotilla, except the 
three captured ships and sundry heaps of smouldering timber. 

The hardships of the soldiers and marines who had escaped capture, 
only to find themselves lost in the desolate forest, were of the severest 
kind. Separating into parties they plodded along, half-starved, with torn 
and rain-soaked clothing, until finally, footsore and almost perishing, they 
reached the border settlements, and were aided on their way to Boston. 
The disaster was complete, and for months its depressing effect upon 
American naval enterprise was observable. 



154 BLUE-JACKETS OF '70. 



In observing the course of naval events in 1779, it is noticeable that 
the most effective worlv was done by the cruisers sent out by the 
individual States, or by privateers. The United States navy, proper, did 
little except what was done in European waters by Paul Jones. Indeed, 
along the American coast, a few cruises in which no actions of moment 
occurred, although several prizes were taken, make up the record of 
naval activity for the year. 

The first of these cruises was that made in April by the ships 
"Warren," "Queen of France," and "Ranger." They sailed from 
Boston, and were out but a few days when they captured a British 
privateer of fourteen guns. From one of the sailors on this craft it was 
learned that a large fleet of transports and storeships had just sailed 
from New York, bound for Georgia. Crowding on all sail, the Americans 
set out in pursuit, and off Cape Henry overhauled the chase. Two fleets 
were sighted, one to windward numbering nine sail, and one to leeward 
made up of ten sail. The pursuers chose the fleet to windward for their 
'jrcy, and by sharp work succeeded in capturing seven vessels in eight 
hours. Two of the ships were armed cruisers of twenty-nine and si.xteen 
guns respectively, and all the prizes were heavy laden with provisions, 
ammunition, and cavalry accoutrements. All were safely taken into port. 

In June, another fleet of United States vessels left Boston in search 
of British game. The " Queen of France " and the " Ranger " were 
again employed ; but the " Warren " remained in port, fitting out for her 
ill-fated expedition to the Penobscot. Mcr place was taken by the 
"Providence," thirty-two. For a time the cruisers fell in with nothing 
of importance. But one day about the middle of July, as the three 
vessels lay hove to off the banks of Newfoundland, in the region of 
peri)etual fog, the dull booming of a signal gun was heard. Nothing was 
to be seen on any side. From the quarter-deck, and from the cross-trees 
alike, the eager eyes of the officers and seamen strove in vain to pene- 
trate the dense curtain of gray fog that shut them in. But again the 
signal gun sounded, then another ; and tone and direction alike told that 
the two reports had not come from the same cannon. Then a bell was 
heard telling the hour, — another, still another; then a whole chorus of 
bells. Clearly a large fleet v/as shut in the fog. 

About eleven o'clock in the morning the fog lifted, and to their 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. J 55 

intense surprise the crew of the "Queen of France" found themselves 
close alongside of a large merchant-ship. As the fog cleared away more 
completely, ships appeared on every side ; and the astonished Yankees 
found themselves in the midst of a fleet of about one hundred and fifty 
sail under convoy of a British ship-of-the-line, and several frigates and 
sloops-of-war. Luckily the United States vessels had no colors flying, 
and nothing about them to betray their nationality : so Capt. Rathburn 
of the " Queen " determined to try a little masquerading. 

Bearing down upon the nearest merchantman, he hailed her ; and the 
Tollowing conversation ensued, — 

"What fleet is this.'" 

" British merchantmen from Jamaica, bound for London. Who are 
you .' " 

"His Majesty's ship 'Arethusa,'" answered Rathburn boldly, "from 
Halifa.x on cruise. Have you seen any Yankee privateers ? " 

"Ay, ay, sir," was the response. "Several have been driven out o'' 
the fleet." 

"Come aboard the 'Arethusa,' then. I wish to consult with you." 

Soon a boat put off from the side of the merchantman, and a jolly 
British sea-captain confidently clambered to the deck of the " Queen." 
Great was his astonishment to be told that he was a prisoner, and to 
see his boat's crew brought aboard, and their places taken by American 
jackics. Back went the boat to the British ship ; and soon the Ameri- 
cans were in control of the craft, without in the least alarming the other 
vessels, that lay almost within hail. The "Queen" then made up to 
another ship, and captured her in the same manner. 

But at this juncture Commodore Whipple, in the "Providence," hailed 
the "Queen," and directed Rathburn to edge out of the fleet before the 
British men-of-war should discover his true character. Rathburn pro- 
tested vigorously, pointing out the two vessels he had captured, and 
urging Whipple to follow his example, and capture as many vessels as 
he could in the same manner. Finally Whipple overcame his fears, and 
adopted Rathburn's methods, with such success that shortly after night- 
fall the Americans left the fleet, taking with them eleven rich prizes. 
Fight of these they succeeded in taking safQ to Boston, where they 
were sold for more than a million dollars. 



156 BLUE-JACK KTS OF '76. 



In May, 1779, occurred two unimportant engagements, — one off Sandy 
Hook, in which the United States sloop " Providence," ten guns, cap- 
tured the British sloop " Diligent," after a brief but spirited engagement ; 
the second action occurred off St. Kitt's, where the United States brig 
" Retaliation " successfully resisted a vigorous attack by a British cutter 
and a brig. The record of the regular navy for the year closed with 
the cruise of the United States frigates " Deane " and " Boston," that 
set sail from the Delaware late in the summer. They kept the seas for 
nearly three months, but made only a few bloodless captures. 

The next year opened with a great . disaster to the American cause. 
The Count d'Estaing, after aimlessly wandering up and down the coast 
of the United States with the fleet ostensibly sent to aid the Americans, 
suddenly took himself and his fleet off to the West Indies. Sir Henry 
Clinton soon learned of the departure of the French, and gathered an 
expedition for the capture of Charleston. On the loth of February, 
Clinton with five thousand troops, and a British fleet under Admiral 
\.huthnot, appeared off Edisto Inlet, about thirty miles from Charleston 
i;id began leisurely preparations for an attack upon the city. Had he 
pushed ahead and made his assault at once, he would have met but 
little resistance ; but his delay of over a month gave the people of 
Charleston time to prepare for a spirited resistance. 

The approach of the British fleet penned up in Charleston harbor 
several United States men-of-war and armed vessels, among them the 
"Providence," "Queen of France," "Boston," "Ranger," "Gen. Moultrie," 
and "Notre Dame." These vessels took an active part in the defence 
of the harbor against Arbuthnot's fleet, but were beaten back. The 
"Queen," the "Gen. Moultrie," and the "Notre Dame" were then sunk 
in the channel to obstruct the progress of the enemy ; their guns being 
taken ashore, and mounted in the batteries on the sea-wall. Then followed 
days of terror for Charleston. The land forces of the enemy turned 
siege guns on the unhappy city, and a constant bombardment was kept 
up from the hostile fleet. Fort Sumter, the batteries along the water 
front, and the ships remaining to the Americans answered boldly. But 
the defence was hopeless. The city was hemmed in by an iron cordon. 
The hot-shot of the enemy's batteries were falling in the streets, and 
flames were breaking out in all parts of the town. While the defence 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 157 



lasted, the men-of-war took an active part in it ; and, indeed, tlie sailors 
were the last to consent to a surrender. So noticeable was the activity 
of the frigate " Boston " in particular, that, when it became evident that 
the Americans could hold out but a little longer. Admiral Arbuthnot 
sent her commander a special order to surrender. 

" I do not think much of striking my flag to your present force," 
responded bluff Samuel Tucker, who commanded the "Boston;" "for I 
have struck more of your flags than are now flying in this harbor." 

But, despite this bold defiance, the inevitable capitulation soon followed. 
Charleston fell into the hands of the British ; and with the city went the 
three men-of-war, "Providence," "Boston," and "Ranger." 

It will be noticed that this disaster was the direct result of the 
disappearance of Count d'Estaing and the French fleet. To the student 
of history who calmly considers the record of our French naval allies in 
the Revolution, there appears good reason to believe that their presence 
did us more harm than good. Under De Grasse, the French fleet did 
good service in co-operation with the allied armies in the Yorkto\. 
campaign ; but, with this single exception, no instance can be cited 1.1 
any material aid rendered by it to the American cause. The United 
States navy, indeed, suffered on account of the French alliance ; for 
despite the loss of many vessels in 1779 and 1780, Congress refused to 
increase the navy in any way, trusting to France to care for America's 
interests on the seas. The result of this policy was a notable falling-off 
in the number and spirit of naval actions. 

The ship " Trumbull," twenty-eight, one of the exploits of which we 
have already chronicled, saw a good deal of active service during the 
last two years of the war ; and though she finally fell into the hands of 
the enemy, it was only because the odds against her were not to be 
overcome by the most spirited resistance. It was on the 2d of June, 
1780, that the "Trumbull," while cruising far out in the Atlantic Ocean 
in the path of British merchantmen bound for the West Indies, sighted 
a strange sail hull down to windward. The " Trumbull " was then in 
command of Capt. James Nicholson, an able and plucky officer. Imme- 
diately on hearing the report of the lookout, Nicholson ordered all th<j 
canvas furled, in order that the stranger might not catch sight of 

the "Trumbull." It is, of course, obvious that a ship under bare poles 

8 



158 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

is a far less conspicuous object upon the ocean, than is the same ship 
with her yards hung with vast clouds of snowy canvas. But apparently 
the stranger sighted the "Trumbull," and had no desire to avoid her; 
for she bore down upon the American ship rapidly, and showed no 
desire to avoid a meeting. Seeing this, Nicholson made sail, and was 
soon close to the stranger. As the two ships drew closer together, the 
stranger showed her character by firing three guns, and hoisting the British 
colors. 

Seeing an action impending, Nicholson called his crew aft and 
harangued them, as was the custom before going into battle. It was 
not a promising outlook for the American ship. She was but recently 
out of port, and was manned largely by "green hands." The privateers 
had so thoroughly stripped the decks of able seamen, that the "Trum- 
bull " had to ship men who knew not one rope from another ; and it is 
even said, that, when the drums beat to quarters the day of the battle, 
many of the sailors were suffering from the landsman's terror, seasickness. 
1'ut what they lacked in experience, they made up in enthusiasm. 

With the British flag at the peak, the " Trumbull " bore down upon 
the enemy. But the stranger was not to be deceived by so hackneyed 
a device. He set a private signal, and, as the Americans did not answer 
it, let fly a broadside at one hundred yards distance. The "Trumbull" 
responded with spirit, and the stars and stripes went fluttering to the 
peak in the place of the British ensign. Then the thunder of battle con- 
tinued undiminished for two hours and a half. The wind was light, and 
the vessels rode on an even keel nearly abreast of each other, and but 
fifty yards apart. At times their yard-arms interlocked ; and still the 
heavy broadsides rang out, and the flying shot crashed through beam 
and stanchion, striking down the men at their guns, and covering the 
decks with blood. Twice the flying wads of heavy paper from the 
enemy's guns set the " Trumbull " afire, and once the British ship was 
endangered by the same cause. 

At last the fire of the enemy slackened, and the Americans, seeing 
victory within their grasp, redoubled their efforts ; but at this critical 
moment one of the gun-deck officers came running to Nicholson, with 
the report that the main-mast had been repeatedly hit by the enemy's 
shot, and was now tottering. If the main-mast went by the board, the 



BLUE-JACKKTS OF '76. 159 

fate of the "Trumbull" was sealed. Crowding sail on the other masts, 
the "Trumbull" shot ahead, and was soon out of the line of fire, the 
enemy being apparently too much occupied with his own injuries to 
molest her. Hardly had she gone the distance of a musket-shot, when 
her main and mizzen top-masts went by the board ; and before the nimble 
jackies could cut away the wreck the other spars followed, until nothing 
was left but the fore-mast. When the crashing and confusion was over, 
the "Trumbull" lay a pitiable wreck, and an easy prey for her foe. 

But the Briton showed a strange disinclination to take advantage of 
the opportunity. The Yankee sailors worked like mad in cutting away 
the wreck ; then rushed to their guns, ready to make a desperate, if 
hopeless, resistance in case of an attack. But the attack never came. 
Without even a parting shot the enemy went off on her course ; and 
before she was out of sight her main top-mast was seen to fall, showing 
that she too had suffered in the action. 

Not for months after did the crew of the " Trumbull " learn the 
name of the vessel they had fought. At last it was learned that she 
ivas a heavy letter-of-marque, the "Watt." Her exact weight of metai 
has never been ascertained, though Capt. Nicholson estimated it at thirty 
four or thirty-si.x guns. The "Trumbull" mounted thirty-si.x guns. The 
captain of the "Watt" reported his loss to have been ninety-two in 
killed and wounded; the loss of the "Trumbull" amounted to thirty- 
nine, though two of her lieutenants were among the slain. This action, 
in severity, ranked next to the famous naval duel between the " Bon 
Homme Richard" and the "Serapis." 

As the " Trumbull " fought her last battle under the flag of the 
United States a year later, and as our consideration of the events of 
the Revolution is drawing to a close, we may abandon chronological 
order, and follow Nicholson and his good ship to the end of their career. 
In August, 1781, the "Trumbull" left the Delaware, convoying twenty- 
eight merchantmen, and accompanied by one privateer. Again her crew 
was weakened by the scarcity of good seamen, and this time Nicholson 
had adopted the dangerous and indefensible expedient of shipping British 
prisoncrs-of-war. There were fifty of these renegades in the crew ; and 
naturally, as they were ready to traitorously abandon their own country, 
they were equally ready for treachery to the flag under which they 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



\ 



sniled. Tliere were many instances during the Revolution of United 
States ships being manned largely by British prisoners. Usually the 
crews thus obtained were treacherous and insubordinate. Even if it had 
been otherwise, the custom was a bad one, and repugnant to honorable 
men. 

So with a crew half-trained and half-disaffccted, the rrumbull " set 
out to convoy a fleet of merchantmen through waters frequented by 
British men-of-war. Hardly had she passed the capes when three British 
cruisers were made out astern. One, a frigate, gave chase. Night fell, 
and in the darkness the "Trumbull" might have escaped with her 
charges, but that a violent squall struck her, carrying away her fore- 
top-mast and main-top-gallant-mast. Her convoy scattered in all directions, 
and by ten o'clock the British frigate had caught up with the disabled 
American. 

The night was still squally, with bursts of rain and fitful flashes of 
lightning, which lighted up the decks of the American ship as she tossed 
Dn the waves. The storm had left her in a sadly disabled condition. 
The shattered top hamper had fallen forward, cumbering up the fore- 
castle, and so tangling the bow tackle that the jibs were useless. The 
foresail was jammed and torn by the fore-topsail-yard. There was half a 
day's work necessary to clear away the wreck, and the steadily advancing 
lights of the British ship told that not half an hour could be had to 
prepare for the battle. 

There was no hope that resistance could be successful, but the brave 
hearts of Nicholson and his officers recoiled from the thought of tamely 
striking the flag without firing a shot. So the drummers were ordered 
to beat the crew to quarters ; and soon, by the light of the battle-lanterns, 
the captains of the guns were calling over the names of the sailors. 
The roll-call had proceeded but a short time when it became evident 
that most of the British renegades were absent from their stations. The 
officers and marines went below to find them. While they were absent, 
others of the renegades, together with about half of the crew whom they 
had tainted with their mutinous jjlottings, put out the battle-lanterns, 
and hid themselves deep in the hold. At this moment the enemy came 
up, and opened fire. 

Determined to make some defence, Nicholson sent the few faithful 



BLUE-JACKEIS OK '76. 16] 



jackies to the guns, and the officers worked side by side with the sailor^. 
The few guns that were manned were served splendidly, and the unequal 
contest was maintained for over an hour, when a second British man-of 
war came up, and the " Trumbull " was forced to strike. At no timt 
had more than forty of her people been at the guns. To this fact is 
due the small loss of life ; for, though the ship was terribly cut up, only 
five of her crew were killed, and eleven wounded. 

The frigate that had engaged the " Trumbull " was the " Iris," for- 
merly the "Hancock" captured from the Americans by the "Rainbow." 
She was one of the largest of the American frigates, while the "Trum- 
bull " was one of the smallest. The contest, therefore, would have been 
unequal, even had not so many elements of weakness contributed to the 
"Trumbull's" cI;scomfiture. 

Taking up again the thread of our narrative of the events of 1780, 
we find that for three months after the action between the "Trumbull" 
and the "Watt" there were no naval actions of moment. Not until 
October did a United States vessel again knock the tompions from he* 
guns, and give battle to an enemy. During that month the cruiser 
"Saratoga" fell in with a hostile armed ship and two brigs. The action 
that followed was brief, and the triumph of the Americans complete. 
One .broadside was fired by the "Saratoga;" then, closing with her foe, 
she threw fifty men aboard, who drove the enemy below. But the 
gallant Americans were not destined to profit by the results of their 
victory ; for, as they were making for the Delaware, the British seventy- 
four " Intrepid " intercepted them, and recaptured all the prizes. Tha 
" Saratoga " escaped capture, only to meet a sadder fate ; for, as she never 
returned to port, it is supposed that she foundered with all on board. 

The autumn and winter passed without any further e.xjjloits on the 
part of the navy. The number of the regular cruisers had been sadly 
diminished, and several were kept blockaded in home ports. Along the 
American coast the British cruisers fairly swarmed ; and the only chance 
for the few Yankee ships afloat was to keep at sea as much as possible, 
and try to intercept the enemy's privateers, transports, and merchantmen, 
on their way across the ocean. 

One United States frigate, and that one a favorite ship in the navy, 
was ordered abroad in Februar}-, 17P1, and on her voyage did some 



l62 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

brave work for her country. This vessel was the "Alliance," once under 
the treacherous command of the eccentric Landais, and since his dis- 
missal commanded by Capt. John Barry, of whose plucky fight in the 
" Raleigh " we have already spoken. The " Alliance " sailed from Boston, 
carrying an army officer on a mission to France. She made the voyage 
without sighting an enemy. Having landed her passenger, she set out 
from I'Orient, with the " Lafayette," forty, in company. The two cruised 
together for three days, capturing two heavy privateers. They then 
parted, and the "Alliance" continued her cruise alone. 

On the 28th of May the lookout reported two sail in sight ; and soon 
the strangers altered their course, and bore down directly upon the 
American frigate. It was late in the afternoon, and darkness set in 
before the strangers were near enough for their character to be made 
out. At dawn all eyes on the "Alliance" scanned the ocean in search 
of the two vessels, which were then easily seen to be a sloop-of-war and 
a brig. Over each floated the British colors. 

A dead calm rested upon the waters. Canvas was spread on all the 
ihips, but flapped idly against the yards. Not the slightest motion could 
be discerned, and none of the ships had steerage-way. The enemy had 
evidently determined to fight ; for before the sun rose red and glowing 
from beneath the horizon, sweeps were seen protruding from the sides 
of the two ships, and they gradually began to lessen the distance between 
them and the American frigate. Capt. Barry had no desire to avoid the 
conflict ; though in a calm, the lighter vessels, being manageable with 
sweeps, had greatly the advantage of the "Alliance," which could only lie 
like a log upon the water. Six hours of weary work with the sweeps 
passed before the enemy came near enough to hail. The usual questions 
and answers were followed by the roar of the cannon, and the action began. 
The prospects for the " Alliance " were dreary indeed ; for the enemy 
took positions on the quarters of the helpless ship, and were able to 
pour in broadsides, while she could respond only with a few of her 
aftermost guns. But, though the case looked hopeless, the Americans 
fought on, hoping that a wind might spring up, that would give the good 
ship "Alliance" at least a fighting chance. 

As Barry strode the quarter-deck, watching the progress of the fight, 
encouraging his men, and looking out an.\iously for indications of a wind, 



BLUp-JACKETS OF '76. t6;^ 



a grape-shot struck him in the shoulder, and felled him to the deck.- 
He was on his feet again in an instant ; and though weakened by the; 
pain, and the rapid flow of blood from the wound, he remained on deck;. 
At last, however, he became too weak to stand, and was carried below'- 
At this moment a flying shot carried away the American colors ; and, as- 
the fire of the "Alliance" was stopped a moment for the loading of the' 
guns, the enemy thought the victory won, and cheered lustily. But their 
triumph was of short duration ; for a new ensign soon took the place of 
the vanished one, and the fire of the "Alliance" commenced again. 

The "Alliance" was now getting into sore straits. The fire of the 
enemy had told heavily upon her, and her fire in return had done but 
little visible damage. As Capt. Barry lay on his berth, enfeebled by the 
pain of his wound, and waiting for the surgeon's attention, a lieutenant 
entered. 

" The ship remains unmanageable, sir," said he. " The rigging is 
badly cut up, and there is danger that the fore-top-mast may go by the 
board. The enemy's fire is telling on the hull, and the carpenter report; 
two leaks. Eight or ten of the people are killed, and several officers 
wounded. Have we your consent to striking the colors ? " 

"No, sir," roared out Barry, sitting bolt upright. "And, if this ship-; 
can't be fought without me, I will be carried on deck." 

The lieutenant returned with his report ; and, when the story became: 
known to the crew, the jackies cheered for their dauntless commander.. 

"We'll stand by the old man, lads," said one of the petty officers. 

"Ay, ay, that we will! We'll stick to him right manfully," was the: 
hearty response. 

But now affairs began to look more hopeful for the "Alliance." Far' 
away a gentle rippling of the water rapidly approaching the ship gave 
promise of wind. The quick eye of an old boatswain caught sight of it 
"A breeze, a breeze!" he cried; and the jackies took up the shout, and 
sprang to their stations at the ropes, ready to take advantage of the 
coming gust. Soon the breeze arrived, the idly flapping sails filled out, 
the helmsman felt the responsive pressure of the water as he leaned 
upon the wheel, the gentle ripple of the water alongside gladdened the 
ears of the blue-jackets, the ship keeled over to leeward, then swung 
around responsive to her helm, and the first effective broadside went 



lt)4 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

crashing into the side of the nearest British vessel. After that, the 
conflict was short. Though the enemy had nearly beaten the "Alliance" 
in the calm, they were no match for her when she was able to 
manoeuvre. Their resistance was plucky ; but when Capt. Barry came 
on deck, with his wound dressed, he was just in time to see the flags of 
both vessels come fluttering to the deck. 

The two prizes proved to be the "Atlanta" sixteen, and the 
"Trepassy" fourteen. Both were badly cut up, and together had suffered 
a loss of forty-one men in killed and wounded. On the " Alliance " were 
eleven dead, and twenty-one wounded. As the capture of the two vessels 
threw about two hundred prisoners into the hands of the Americans, 
and as the "Alliance" was already crowded with captives, Capt. Barry 
made a cartel of the " Trepassy," and sent her into an English port 
with all the prisoners. The "Atlanta" he manned with a prize crew, 
and sent to Boston ; but she unluckily fell in with a British cruiser in 
Massachusetts Bay, and was retaken. 

Once more before the cessation of hostilities between Great Britain 
iiid the United States threw her out of commission, did the "Alliance" 
exchange shots with a hostile man-of-war. It was in 1782, when the 
noble frigate was engaged in bringing specie from the West Indies. 
She had under convoy a vessel loaded with sujiplies, and the two had 
hardly left Havana when some of the enemy's ships caught sight of 
them, and gave chase. While the chase was in progress, a fifty-gun ship 
hove in sight, and was soon made out to be a French frigate. Feeling 
that he had an ally at hand, Barry now wore ship, and attacked the 
leading vessel, and a spirited action followed, until the enemy, finding 
himself hard pressed, signalled for' his consorts, and ]5arry, seeing that 
the P>ench ship made no sign of coming to his aid, drew off. 

Irritated by the failure of the French frigate to come to his assist- 
ance, Barry bore down upon her and hailed. The French captain 
declared that the manoeuvres of the "Alliance" and her antagonist had 
made him suspect that the engagement was only a trick to draw him 
into the power of the British fleet. He had feared that the "Alliance" 
had been captured, and was being used as a decoy ; but now that the 
matter was made clear to him, he would join the "Alliance" in pursuit 
of the enemy. This he did ; but Barry soon found that the fifty was so 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 165 



slow a sailer, that the "Alliance" might catch up with the British fleet, 
and be knocked to pieces by their guns, before the Frenchman could 
get within range. Accordingly he abandoned the chase in disgust, and 
renewed his homeward course. Some years later, an American gentle- 
man travelling in Europe met the British naval officer who commanded 
the frigate which Barry had engaged. This officer, then a vice-admiral, 
declared that he had never before seen a ship so ably fought as was 
the "Alliance," and acknowledged that the presence of his consorts alone 
saved him a drubbing. 

This engagement was the last fought by the "Alliance" during the 
Revolution, and with it we practically complete our narrative of the work 
of the regular navy during that war. One slight disaster to the American 
cause alone remains to be mentioned. The "Confederacy," a thirty- 
two-gun frigate built in 1778, was captured by the enemy in 1781. She 
was an unlucky ship, having been totally dismasted on her first cruise, 
and captured by an overwhelming force on her second. 

Though this chapter completes the story of the regular navy during 
the Revolution, there remain many important naval events to be described 
in an ensuing chapter. The work of the ships fitted out by Congress 
was aided greatly by the armed cruisers furnished by individual States, 
and privateers. Some of the exploits of these crafts and some desultory 
maritime hostilities we shall describe in the ne.xt chapter. And if the 
story of the United States navy, as told in these few chapters, seems 
a record of events trivial as compared with the gigantic naval struggles 
of 1812 and 1861, it must be remembered that not only were naval 
architecture and ordnance in their infancy in 1776, but that the country 
was young, and its sailors unused to the ways of war. But that coun- 
try, young as it was, produced Paul Jones ; and it is to be questioned 
whether any naval war since has brought forth a braver or nobler naval 
officer, or one more skilled in the handling of a single ship-of-war. 

The result of the war of the Revolution is known to all. A new 
nation was created by it. These pages will perhaps convince their 
readers that to the navy was due somewhat the creation of that nation. 
And if to-day, in its power and might, the United States seems inclined 
to throw off the navy and belittle its importance, let the memory of 
Paul Jones and his colleagues be conjured up, to awaken the old 
enthusiasm over the triumphs of the stars and stripes upon the waves. 




CHAPTER XIV. 



vVDRK OF THE PRIVATEERS. — THE "GEN. H.\NCOCK" AND THE " LEVANT."— EXPLOITS OP 
THE "PICKERING."— THE " REVENGE." — THE "HOLKAR"— THE "CONGRESS" AND THE 
"SAVAGE." — THE " HYDER ALT" AND THE "GEN. MONK." — THE WHALE-BOAT HOSTILL 
TIES. — THE OLD JERSEY PRISON-SHIP. 



g"^^ O CHRONICLE in full the myriad exploits and experiences of the 

7g&i ^)k privateers and armed cruisers in the service of individual states 

3^ during the Revolution, would require a volume thrice the size of 

this. Moreover, it is difficult and well-nigh impossible to obtain 
authentic information regarding the movements of this class of armed 
craft. An immense number of anecdotes of their prowess is current, and 
some few such narratives will be repeated in this chapter ; but, as a rule, 
they arc based only upon tradition, or the imperfect and often incorrect 
reports in the newspapers of the day. 

The loss inflicted upon Great Britain by the activity of Amcricaa 
privateers was colossal. For the first year of the war the Continental 
Congress was unwilling to take so belligerent a step as to encourage 
privateering; but, in the summer of 1776, the issuing of letters of marque 
and reprisal was begun, and in a short time all New England had gone to 
privateering. The ocean fairly swarmed with trim Yankee schooners and 

166 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 167 



brigs, and in the two years that followed nearly eight hundred merchantmen 
were taken. 

Discipline on the privateers was lax, and the profits of a successful 
cruise were enormous. Often a new speedy craft paid her whole cost of 
construction on her first cruise. The sailors fairly revelled in money at 
the close of such a cruise ; and, like true jack-tars, they made their money 
fly as soon as they got ashore. A few days would generally suffice to 
squander all the earnings of a two-months' cruise ; and, penniless but 
happy. Jack would ship for another bout with fortune. 

A volume could be written dealing with the exploits of the privateers, 
but for our purpose a few instances of their dash and spirit will be enough. 
Though the purpose of the privateers was purely mercenary, their chief 
end and aim being to capture defenceless merchantmen, yet they were 
always ready to fight when fighting was necessary, and more than once 
made a good- showing against stronger and better disciplined naval forces. 
In many cases audacity and dash more than made up for the lack of 
strength. 

In 1777 two American privateers hung about the British Isles, making 
captures, and sending their prizes into French ports. The exploits of Paul 
Jones were equalled by these irregular cruisers. One of them, being in 
need of provisions, put into the little Irish port of Beerhaven, and lay 
at anchor for ten hours, while her crew scoured the town in search of 
the needed stores. A second privateer boldly entered a harbor on the 
Island of Guernsey. A castle at the entrance of the harbor opened fire 
upon her, whereupon she came about, and, keeping out of range of the 
castle guns, captured a large brig that was making for the port. Where 
night fell, the privateer sent a boat's crew ashore, and took captive two) 
officers of the local militia. 

In 1778 occurred an action between a private armed ship and a British 
frigate, in which the privateer was signally successful. On the 19th of 
September of that year, the " Gen. Hancock," a stout-built, well armecL 
and manned privateer, fell in with the " Levant," a British frigate of thirty- 
two guns. The " Hancock " made no attempt to avoid a conflict, and 
opened with a broadside without answering the enemy's hail. The action 
was stubbornly contested upon both sides. After an hour of fighting, 
the captain of the Yankee ship, peering through the smoke, saw that the 
colors no longer w^ved ^bove his adversary. 



1 68 HLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

" Have you struck ? " he shouted. 

" No. Fire away," came the response faintly through the roar of the 
cannon. Two hours longer the combat raged, with the ships lying yard-arm 
to yard-arm. A ball struck Capt. Hardy of the " Hancock " in the neck, 
and he was carried below, while the first lieutenant took command of the 
ship. A few minutes later there arose a deafening roar and blinding 
flash ; a terrific shock threw the men on the American ship to the deck. 
Stifling smoke darkened the atmosphere ; and pieces of timber, cordage, 
and even horribly torn bits of human flesh began to fall upon the decks. 
When the smoke cleared away, the Americans looked eagerly for their 
enemy. Where she had floated a minute or two before, was now a 
shattered, blackened hulk fast sinking beneath the waves. The surface 
of the sea for yards around was strewn with wreckage, and here and there 
men could be seen struggling for life. As ready to save life as they had 
been to destroy it, the Americans lowered their boats and palled about, 
picking up the survivors of the explosion. The boatswain of the ill-fated 
ship and seventeen of the crew were thus saved, but more than fourscore 
brave fellows went down with her. The American vessel herself was 
damaged not a little by the violence of the explosion. 

This was not the only case during this year in wdiich a British man-of- 
war met defeat at the guns of a Yankee privateer. The " Hinchinbrooke," 
sloop-of-war fourteen ; the " York," tender twelve ; and the " Enterprise," 
ten guns, — all struck their colors to private armed vessels flying the 
stars and stripes. 

By 1778 the privateers under the British flag were afloat in no small 
number. America had no commerce on which they might prey, and 
they looked forward only to recapturing those British vessels that had 
been taken by Yankee privateers and sent homeward. That so many 
British vessels should have found profitable employment in this pursuit, 
is in itself a speaking tribute to the activity of the American private 
armed navy. 

During the Revolution, as during the second war with Great Britain in 
1812, Salem, Mass., and Baltimore, Md., were the principal points from 
which privateers hailed. In all the early wars of the United States, the 
term " Salem privateer " carried with it a picture of a fleet schooner, 
manned with a picked crew of able seamen, commanded by a lanky Yankee 



BLUE-JACKETS OF "76. 169 

skipper who knew the byways of old ocean as well as the highways of 
trade, armed with eight, four, or six pounders, and a heavy "Long Tom" 
amidships. Scores of such craft sailed from Salem during the Revolution; 
and hardly a week passed without two or three returning privateers entering 
the little port and discharging their crews, to keep the little village in a 
turmoil until their prize money was spent, or, to use the sailors' phrase, 
until "no shot was left in the locker." 

One of the most successful of the Salem privateers was the " Pickering," 
a craft carrying a battery of si.xteen guns, and a crew of forty-seven men. 
On one cruise she fought an engagement of an hour and a half with a 
British cutter of twenty guns ; and so roughly did she handle the enemy, 
that he was glad to sheer off. A day or two later, the "Pickering" over- 
hauled the "Golden Eagle," a large schooner of twenty-two guns and fifty- 
seven men. The action which followed was ended by the schooner striking 
her flag. A prize crew was then put aboard the " Golden Eagle," and 
ahe was ordered to follov/ in the wake of her captor. Three days later 
the British sloop-of-war "Achilles" hove in sight, and gave chase to the 
privateer and her prize. After a fifteen hours' chase the prize was over- 
hauled ; and the sloop-of-war, after taking possession of her, continued in 
pursuit of the privateer. But while the privateersmen had preferred flight 
to fighting while nothing was at stake, they did not propose to let their 
prize be taken from them without a resistance, however great the odds 
against them. Accordingly they permitted the "Achilles" to overhaul 
them, and a sharp action followed. The British tried to force the combat by 
boarding; but the Americans, with pikes and cutlasses, drove them back to 
their own ship. Then the two vessels separated, and during the rest of 
the conflict came no nearer each other than the length of a pistol-shot. 
At this distance they carried on a spirited cannonade for upwards of three 
hours, when the " Achilles," concluding that she had had enough, sheered 
off. Thereupon, the "Pickering" coolly ran back to her late prize, took 
possession of her, captured the lieutenant and prize crew that the 
" Achilles " had put in charge of her, and continued her cruise. 

A good e.vample of the Baltimore privateers was the " Revenge," 
mounting eighteen guns, with a crew of fifty men. In 17S0 this vessel 
was commanded by Capt. Alexander Murray of the regular navy. She was 
engaged by a large number of I5altimore merchants to convoy a fleet 



170 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

of merchantmen, but had hardly started to sea with her charges when 
;she fell in with a fleet of British vessels, and was forced to retreat up the 
I'atuxent River. While there, the American fleet was strengthened by 
^several privateers and armed merchant-vessels which joined it, so that it 
•was felt safe to try again to get to sea. Accordingly the attempt was 
■made; but, though the captains of the fleet had signed a solemn compact 
■.to stand together in case of the danger, the sudden appearance of a fleet 
lof hostile armed vessels sent all scurrying up the Patuxent again, except 
tone brig and a schooner. The British fleet consisted of a ship of eighteen 
guns, a brig of sixteen, and three privateer schooners. Leaving the 
schooners to his two faithful consorts, Murray threw himself between 
the two larger vessels and the flying merchantmen. Seeing themselves 
thus balked of their prey, the enemy turned fiercely upon the "Revenge," 
but were met with so spirited a resistance, that they hauled off after an 
hour's fighting. The other American vessels behaved equally well, and 
the discomfiture of the British was complete. 

Philadelphia, though not looked upon as a centre of privateering 
;aetivity, furnished one privateer that made a notable record. This was 
?the " Holkar," sixteen guns. In April, 1780, she captured a British 
:schooncr of ten guns ; and in May of the same year she fought a desperate 
action with a British privateer brig, the name of which has never been 
ascertained. Twice the Briton sheered off to escape the telling fire of the 
American; but the " Holkar" pressed him closely, and only the appearance 
of a second British armed vessel at the scene of the action saved the 
Englishman from capture. This battle was one of the most sanguinary 
ever fought by private armed vessels; for of the crew of the "Holkar" 
six were killed and sixteen wounded, including the captain and first 
lieutenant, while of the enemy there were about the same number killed 
and twenty wounded. Three months later this same privateer fell in with 
the British sixteen-gun cutter " Hypocrite," and captured her after a sharp 
conflict. 

Perhaps the most audacious privateering exploit was that of the 
■ privateers "Hero," "Hope," and "Swallow," in July, 1782. The captains 
of these craft, meeting after an unprofitable season upon the high seas, 
-conceived the idea of making a descent upon the Nova Scotian town of 
J.unenberg, some thirty-five miles from Halifax. Little time was wasted 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 171 

in discussion. Privateers are not hampered by official red tape. So it 
happened that early in the month the three privateers appeared off the 
harbor of the threatened town, having landed a shore party of ninety men. 
Before the invaders the inhabitants retreated rapidly, making some slight 
resistance. Two block-houses, garrisoned by British regulars, guarded 
the town. One of these fortresses the Americans burned, whereupon the 
British established themselves in the second, and prepared to stand a 
siege. Luckily for the Americans, the block-house was within range of 
the harbor; so that the three privateers took advantageous positions, and 
fired a few rounds of solid shot into the enemy's wooden citadel. The 
besieged then made haste to raise the white flag, and surrendered them- 
selves prisoners-of-war. When the Yankee ships left the harbor, they 
took with them a large quantity of merchandise and provisions, and a 
thousand pounds sterling by way of ransom. 

One more conflict, in which the irregular naval forces of the United 
States did credit to themselves, must be described before dismissing the 
subject of privateering. In September, 1781, the British sloop-of-war 
" Savage " was cruising off the southern coast of the United States. 
Her officers and men were in a particularly good humor, and felt a lively 
sense of self-satisfaction; for they had just ascended the Potomac, and 
plundered Gen. Washington's estate, — an exploit which would make them 
heroes in the eyes of their admiring countrymen. 

Off Charleston the " Savage " encountered the American privateer 
"Congress," of about the same strength as herself, — twenty guns and one 
hundred and fifty men. In one respect the "Congress" was the weaker; 
for her crew was composed largely of lanilsmen, and her marines were a 
company of militia, most of whom were sadly afflicted with seasickness. 
Nevertheless, the Yankee craft rushed boldly into action, opening fire with 
her bow-chasers as soon as she came within range. Like two savage bull- 
dogs, the two ships rushed at each other, disdaining all manoeuvring, and 
seemingly intent only upon locking in a deadly struggle, yard-arm to yard- 
arm At first the "Savage" won a slight advantage. Swinging across 
the bow of the "Congress," she raked her enemy twice. But soon the 
two ships lay side by side, and the thunder of the cannon was constant. 
The militia-marines on the "Congress " did good service. Stationed in the 

tops, on the forecastle, the quarter-deck, and every elevated place on 
7 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



the ship, they poured down upon the deck of the enemy a murderous fire. 
The jackies at the great guns poured in broadsides so well directed that 
soon the " Savage " had not a rope left with which to manage the sails. 
Her quarter-deck was cleared, and not a man was to be seen to serve as a 
mark for the American gunners. So near lay the two vessels to each other, 
that the fire from the guns scorched the gunners on the opposite ship. 
The antagonists were inextricably entangled ; for the mizzen-masi: of the 
" Savage " had been shot away, and had fallen into the after-rigging of 
the "Congress." There was no flight for the weaker vessel. When she 
could no longer fight, surrender was her only recourse. Neither vessel 
showed any colors, for both ensigns had been shot away early in the 
action. Accordingly, when the boatswain of the " Savage " w^s seen 
upon the forecastle wildly waving his arms, it was taken as an evidence of 
surrender; and the fire .slackened until his voice could be heard. 

"Give us quarter," he cried hoarsely; "we are a wreck, and strike 
our flag." 

The firing then ceased ; but, when the lieutenant of the " Congress " 
ordered a boat lowered in which to board the prize, the old boatswain came 
back with the report, — 

"Boats all knocked to pieces, sir. Couldn't find one that would 
float." 

Accordingly the two vessels had to be slowly drawn together, and the 
boarding party reached the deck of the prize by clambering over a spar 
which served as a bridge. When they reached the prize, they found her 
decks covered with dead and wounded men. The slaughter had been 
terrible. Twenty-three men were killed, and thirty-one wounded. On 
the "Congress" were thirty, killed and wounded together. One of the 
wounded Americans was found lying with his back braced against the 
foot of the bowsprit, cheering for the victory, and crying, — 

"If they have broken my legs, my hands and heart are still whole." 

Throughout this sanguinary action both parties showed the greatest 
courage and determination. Two vessels of the two most perfectly organ- 
ized regular navies in the world could not have been better handled, nor 
could they have more stubbornly contested for the victory. 

A class of armed vessels outside the limits of the regular navy, but 
very active and efficient in the service of the country, was the maritime 



BLUE-JACKETS OF "76. I73 



forces of the individual states. Before Congress had seen the necessity 
for a naval force, several of the colonies had been alive to the situation, 
and fitted out cruisers of their own. Even after the Revolution had 
developed into a war of the first magnitude, and after the colonies had 
assumed the title of states, and delegated to Congress the duty of 
providing for the common defence, they still continued to fit out their own 
men-of-war to protect their ports and act as convoys for their merchant 
fleets. Though vessels in this service seldom cruised far from the coast 
of their home colony, yet occasionally they met the vessels of the enemy, 
and many sharp actions were fought by them. 

Of all the actions fought by the State cruisers, the most hotly 
contested was that between the Pennsylvania cruiser " Hyder Ali," and 
the British sloop-of-war " Gen. Monk." The " Hyder Ali " was a merchant 
man, bought by the state just as she was about departing on a voyage to 
the West Indies. She was in no way calculated for a man-of-war; but the 
need was pressing, and she was pierced for eight ports on a side, and 
provided with a battery of six-pounders. The command of this vessel 
was given to Joshua Barney, a young officer with an extensive experience 
of Yankee privateers and British prisons, and whose later exploits in the 
United States navy are familiar to readers of "Blue-Jackets of iSi2." 

Barney's instructions were, not to go to sea, but to patrol the Delaware 
River and Bay, and see that no privateer lay in wait for the merchant- 
vessels that cleared from the port of Philadelphia. In April, 1782, the 
'Ilyder Ali" stood down Delaware Bay at the head of a large fleet of 
outward-bound merchantmen. When Cape May was reached, strong head- 
winds sprang up, and the whole fleet anchored to await more favorable 
weather before putting out to sea. While they lay at anchor, the " Hyder 
Ali " sighted a trio of British vessels, two ships and a brig, rounding the 
cape. Instantly Barney signalled his convoy to trip anchor and retreat, 
a signal which was promptly obeyed by all save one too daring craft, that 
tried to slip round the cape, and get to sea, but fell into the hands of the 
enemy. Soon the whole fleet, with the " Hyder Ali " bringing up 
the rear, fled up the bay. The British followed in hot pursuit. 

At a point half-way up the bay the pursuers parted ; one of the ship.s, 
a frigate, cutting through a side channel in the hope of intercepting the 
tugitives. The other two pursuers, a privateer brig and a sloop-of-war, 



J 74 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

continued in the wake of the " Hyder AH." The brig proved herself 
a Clipper, and soon came up with the American vessel, which promptly 
offered battle. The challenge was declined by the privateer, which fired 
a harmless broadside, and continued on up the bay. Barney let her pass, 
for he had determined to risk the dangers of an uncc|ual combat with the 
sloop-of-war. This vessel came up rapidly ; and as she drew near Barney 
luffed up suddenly, and let fly a broadside. This somewhat staggered the 
enemy, who had expected only a tame surrender ; but she quickly recovered, 
and came boldly on. At this juncture Barney turned to his helmsman, and 
said, — 

"Now, when I give the word, pay no attention to my order, but put 
the helm hard-a-starboard. Pay no heed to the actual command I may 
give you." 

The British vessel was then within half pistol-shot, and her forward 
guns were beginning to bear. From his station on the quarter-deck 
Barney shouted to his steersman in stentorian tones, — 
"Port your helm. Hard-a-port." 

The order was clearly heard on board the enemy, and he prepared tc 
manoeuvre his ship accordingly. But the steersman of the "Hyder Ali" 
remembered his instructions; and before the enemy discovered the ruse, 
the American ship lay athwart the other's bow, and the bowsprit of the 
enemy was caught in the " Hyder All's " rigging, giving the latter a raking 
position. Quickly the Yankee gunners seized the opportunity. Not five 
miles away was a British frigate ready to rush to the assistance of her 
consort, and whatever was to be done by the bold lads of Pennsylvania 
had to be done with expedition. No cheer rose from their ranks ; but 
with grim determination they worked at the great guns, pouring in rapid 
and effective broadsides. The explosions of the two batteries were like 
the deafening peals of thunder echoed and re-echoed in some mountain- 
gorge. Smoke hid the vessels from sight, and the riflemen in the tops 
could only occasionally catch sight of the figures of the enemy. The 
enemy had twenty guns to Barney's si.xteen ; but he was outmanoeuvred 
at the start, and this disadvantage he never overcame. Half an hour 
from the time of the opening of the battle, his flag was struck, and the 
Americans, with lusty cheers, took possession of their prize. There was 
no lime for ceremony. The frigate had seen the conflict from afar, and 



BLUE-JACKETS OV '^6. 175 



was bearing down upon the two antagonists. So without even asking 
tlie name of the captured vessel, Piarncy hastily threw a prize crew abcarc'. 
ordered her to proceed to Philadelphia, and himself remained behind to 
cover the retreat. 

Some hours later, having escaped the British frigate, the two vessels 
sailed up to a Philadelphia wharf. The scars of battle had been in no way 
healed : the tattered sails, the shattered hulls and bulwarks, the cordage 
hanging loosely from the masts, told the story of battle. The crowd 
that rushed to the wharf, and peered curiously about the decks of the two 
vessels, saw a ghastly and horrible sight. For the battle had been as 
sanguinary as it was spirited, and the dead still lay where they fell. On 
tiie British vessel, the "Gen. Monk," lay the lifeless bodies of twenty men; 
while twenty-si.x wounded, whose blood stained the deck, lay groaning in 
the cockpit below. On the " Hyder Ali " were four killed and eleven 
wounded. 

This action, for steadiness and brilliancy, was not surpassed by any naval 
duel of the war of the Revolution. By it the name of Joshua Barney was 
put upon a plane with those of the most eminent commanders in the regular 
navy; and had not the war speedily terminated, he would have been granted 
a commission and a sliip by t!ie United States. 

While the chief naval eve. .^ of the war for independence have now 
been recounted, there still remam certain incidents connected more or less 
closely with the war on the water, which deserve a passing mention. One 
of these is the curious desultory warfare carried on in and about New York 
Harbor by fishermen and longshoremen in whale-boats, dories, sharpies, and 
similar small craft. 

From 1776 until the close of the war. New York City and the region 
bordering upon the harbor were occupied by the British. Provisions were 
needed for their support, and were brought from Connecticut and New 
Jersey in small sailing craft, chiefly whale-boats. These boats the patriots 
often intercepted, and desperate encounters upon the water were frequent. 
Nor did the Yankee boatmen confine their attacks to the provision boats 
alone. In the summer of 1775 the British transport "Blue Mountain 
Valley " was captured by a band of hardy Jerseymen, who concealed 
themselves in the holds of four small sail-boats until fairly alongside the 
enemy's vessel, when they swarmed out and drove the British from the deck 
of their vessel. 



1/6 blue:-jackets of '76. 



Two New Jersey fishermen, Adam Hyler and William Marriner, were 
particularly active in this class of warfare. Twice the British sent armed 
forces to capture them, and, failing in that, burned their boats. But the 
sturdy patriots were undaunted, and building new boats, waged a relentless 
war against the followers of King George. Every Tory that fished in the 
bay was forced to pay them tribute ; and many of these gentry, so obno.xious 
to the Yankees, were visited in their homes at dead of night, and solemnly 
warned to show more moderation in their disapproval of the American 
cause. When the occasion offered, the two Jerseymen gathered armed 
bands, and more than one small British vessel fell a prey to their midnight 
activity. Two British corvettes were captured by them in Coney Island 
Bay, and burned to the water's edge. With one of the blazing vessels 
forty thousand dollars in specie was destroyed, — a fact that Hylcr bitterlj 
lamented when he learned of it. 

No narrative of the events of the Revolution would be comj^lctc 
without some description of the floating prison-houses in which the 
British immured the hapless soldiers and sailors who fell into their hands. 
Of these the chief one was a dismasted hulk known as the "Old Jersey" 
prison-ship, and moored in Wallabout Bay near New York City. No pen 
can adequately describe the horrors of this prison ; but some extracts 
from the published recollections of men once imprisoned in her noisome 
hold will give some idea of the miserable fate of those condemned to be 
imprisoned on her. 

Thomas Andros, a sailor taken by the British with the privateer " Fair 
American," writes of the "Old Jersey:" "This was an old sixty-four-gun 
ship, which, through age, had become unfit for further actual service. 
She was stripped of every spar and all her rigging. After a battle with 
a French fleet, her lion figure-head was taken away to repair another ship. 
No appearance of ornament was left, and nothing remained but an old 
unsightly rotten hulk ; and doubtless no other ship in the British navy 
ever proved the means of the destruction of so many human beings. It is 
computed that no less than eleven thousand American seamen perished in 
her. When I first became an inmate of this abode of suffering, despair, 
and death, there were about four hundred prisoners on board ; but in a 
short time they amounted to twelve hundred. In a short time we had two 
hundred or more sick and dying lodged in the forepart of the lower gun- 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 1 77 

deck, where all the prisoners were confined at night. Utter derangement 
was a common symptom of yellow-fever; and to increase the horror of the 
darkness that surrounded us (for we were allowed no light between decks), 
the voice of warning would be heard, ' Take heed to yourselves. There 
is a madman stalking through the ship with a knife in his hand.' I 
sometimes found the man a corpse in the morning, by whose side 1 laid 
myself down at night. In the morning the hatchways were thrown open; 
and we were allowed to ascend on the upper deck all at once, and remain 
on the upper deck all day. But the first object that met our view in the 
morning -was .an appalling spectacle, — a boat loaded with dead bodies, 
conveying them to the Long Island shore, where they were very slightly 
covered." 

Ebenezer Fo.\, another privateersman, has left his recollections of this 
dreadful prison. His description of the food upon which the unhappy 
prisoners were forced to subsist is interesting: — 

"Our bill of fare was as follows: on Sunday, one pound of biscuit, 
one pound of pork, and half a pint of pease ; Monday, one pound of 
biscuit, one pint of oatmeal, and two ounces of butter ; Tuesday, one 
pound of biscuit, and two pounds of salt beef ; Wednesday, one and 
a half pounds of flour, and two ounces of suet ; Thursday was a 
repetition of Sunday's fare ; Friday, of Monday's ; and Saturday, of 
Tuesday's. 

"If this food had been of good quality and properly cooked, as we 
had no labor to perform, it would have kept us comfortable, at least from 
suffering ; but this was not the case. All our food appeared to be damaged. 
^s for the pork, we were cheated out of it more than half the time ; and 
when it was obtained, one would have judged from its motley hues, 
exhibiting the consistence and appearance of variegated fancy soap, that 
it was the flesh of the porpoise or sea-hog, and had been an inhabitant 
of the ocean rather than of the stye. The pease were generally damaged, 
and, from the imperfect manner in which they were cooked, were about 
as indigestible as grape-shot. The butter the reader will not suppose 
was the real 'Goshen;' and had it not been for its adhesive properties 
to hold together the particles of the biscuit, that had been so riddled by 
the worms as to lose all their attraction of cohesion, we should have 
considered it no desirable addition to our viands." 



];8 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



But it is unnecessary to prolong the painful description of the horrors 
of this floating charnel house. Its name and record must ever rest as a 
dark stain upon the name of England. It is seldom possible in war-time 
to house and care for the immense hordes of prisoncrs-of-war with the 
same regard for their comfort which is shown ordinarily to convicted felons. 
War IS brutal ; it is unfeeling, and the weaker party must always suffer. 
But such sufferings as those of the " Old Jersey " captives can be excused 
upon no ground. There was no need to crowd hundreds of men into a 
space hardly large enough for a few score. To starve her prisoners, should 
not be part of a great nation's policy. The one plea which England can 
urge in extenuation of the " Old Jersey " is that it had its day at a time 
when those broad principles of humanity, now so generally accepted, had 
not yet been applied to the rules of war. 

With this chapter ends the narrative of the naval events of the war of the 
Revolution. It was not a great naval war, for the belligerent nations were 
not sufficiently well matched in naval strength. But it brought forth Paul 
Jones and more than one other brave and able commander. It established 
a new flag upon the seas, a flag that has ever since held an honorable 
position among the insignia of the foremost nations of the earth. And in 
the war of the Revolution, as in every war in which the United States 
has taken part since, there was manifested the wonderful ability of the 
American people to rush into a conflict half prepared, and gain daily in 
strength until the cause for which they fight is won. In 1776 that cause 
was liberty, and in its behalf none fought more bravely than the lads wno 
wore the blue jackets of the Ameiican navy. 



^d^ 



^■rXZLrrr^. 




CHAPTER XV. 



THE NAVY DISBANDED. — AGGRESSIONS OF BARBARY 
CORSAIRS. — A DISGRACEFUL TRIBUTE. — BAIN- 
BRIDGE AND THE DEY. — GEN. EATON AT TUNIS. 
A SQUADRON SENT TO THE MEDITERRANEAN.— 
— DEC.\TUR AND THE SPANIARDS. — THE "EN- 
TERPRISE" AND THE " TRIPOLI." — AMERICAN 
SLAVES IN ALGIERS. 




EACE having been signed with Great Britain in 1783, the nucleus 
of a navy then in existence was disbanded. Partly this was due 
to the disinclination of the sturdy Republicans to keep a standing 
establishment, either naval or military, in time of peace. The 
same tendency of the American mind to disregard the adage, " In time of 
peace, prepare for war," is observable to-day. Put the chief reason for the 
dissolution of the navy lay in the impossibility of collecting funas to pay 
for its maintenance. The states had formed themselves into a confederacy, 
but so jealously had each state guarded its individual rights, that no power 
was left to the general government. The navy being a creation of the 
general government, was therefore left without means of support ; and in 
1785 the last remaining frigate, the "Alliance," was sold because there 
was not enough money in the treasury to pay for her needed repairs. 

For eight years thereafter the nation remained without a navy. But 
gradually there sprung up a very considerable maritime commerce under 
the flag of the United States. The stars and stripes began to be a 
familiar sight in sea-ports as far away as China and Japan. Ikit as far as 
it afforded any protection to the vessel above which it waved, that banner 
might have been a meaningless bit of striped bunting. In 1785 the Dcy 
of Algiers, looking to piracy for his income, sent his piratical cruisers out 
inio the Atlantic to seize upon the merchantmen of the new nation that 

179 



l8o BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

had no navy to enforce its authority. Two vessels were captured, and 
their crews sold into disgraceful slavery in Algiers. 

When the first Congress of the United States under the present 
Constitution assembled, President Washington called the attention of the 
law-makers to the crying need for a navy. But war had set in between 
Portugal and Algiers ; the Algerian corsairs were blockaded in their ports, 
and American vessels were enjoying a temporary immunity from piratical 
attack. Therefore Congress hesitated. 

But in 1793 peace was suddenly arranged between Portugal and 
Algiers. Immediately the corsairs swarmed out of the Mediterranean 
Sea, and swooped down upon the American merchantmen. In a few 
weeks four ships were in their hands, and the gangs of white slaves in 
Tunis and Tripoli were re-enforced by nearly two hundred luckless Yankee 
sailors. Then Congress awoke, and ordered the immediate building of 
six frigates. The ships were laid down, the work was well under way, 
naval officers had been appointed, and every thing seemed to point to thf 
revival of the American navy, when a treaty was negotiated with Algiers 
and all work was stopped. 

And what a treaty it was ! By it the United States relinquished 
every claim to the rights of a sovereign nation. It agreed to pay an 
annual tribute to the piratical Dey, in consideration of his granting to 
American vessels the right of travel on the high seas. And when some- 
slight delay occurred in making the first payment of tribute, the obsequious 
government presented the Barbary corsair with a frigate, to allay his wrath. 

We must pass hastily over the time during which this iniquitous treaty 
was in force. Suifice it to say, that by it the United States paid the Dey 
more than a million dollars. For the same sum his piratical establishment 
might have been scattered like the sands of the desert. 

In May, 1800, it fell to the lot of Capt. William Bainbridge, commanding 
the frigate "George Washington," to carry the annual tribute to Algiers. 
On arriving there he was treated with contempt by the Dey, who demanded 
that he put the "Washington" at the service of Algiers, to carry her 
ambassador to Constantinople. " You pay me tribute, by which you 
become my slaves," said the Dey ; " I have therefore a right to order 
you as I may think proper." 

Bainbridge protested, but to no avail. He had anchored his frigate 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. iSi 

under the guns of the Dey's castle, and to disobey meant capture and 
slavery. Accordingly he complied, but despatched a letter to the authori- 
ties at home, saying, " I hope I may never again be sent to Algiers with 
tribute, unless I am authorized to deliver it from the mouth of our cannon." 

When Bainbridge reached the United States, after faithfully discharging 
the errand of the Dey, he found that it was unlikely that either he or any 
other officer would be forced to carry any further tribute to the Barbary 
pirates. For, while the tribute paid to Algiers had merely changed the 
attitude of that country from open hostility to contemptuous forbearance, 
it had brought the other Barbary states clamoring to the United States 
for tribute. Tunis and Tripoli demanded blood-money ; and each emphasized 
its demand by capturing a few Yankee merchantmen, and selling their 
crews into slavery. 

The agents or ambassadors sent by the United States to these powers 
were treated with the utmost contempt ; and while their lives were often 
in danger, their property was always considered the fair prey of the 
Barbarian ruler to whose domain they were sent. To Tunis was sent 
Gen. William Eaton, an American politician, who has left a record of his 
experiences in the land of the Bey. Some of the entries in his journal are 
very pithy. Thus under the date of Aug. 11, 1799, he wrote, — 

" Some good friend had informed the Bey that I had an elegant Grecian 
mirror in my house. To-day he sent a request for it, pretending that he 
wanted it for the cabin of his pleasure-boat, now about to be launched. So 
it is. If the consuls have a good piece of furniture, or any other good 
thing which strikes the Bey's fancy, he never hesitates to ask for it ; and 
they have no alternative but to give it. They have suffered this to become 
usance also. 

" 1 2th. Sent the Bey the mirror." 

A letter from Gen. Eaton to the Secretary of State, in 1801, tells of 
thf capacity of the Bey. A fire in the regal palace destroyed fifty thousand 
stand of small-arms. The ne.Kt day the monarch ordered Eaton to procure 
from the United States ten thousand stand to help make up the loss. 
Eaton demurred. " The Bey did not send for you to ask your advice," said 
the prime minister, " but to ortler you to communicate his demands to your 
Government." 

Eaton still protested, pointed out the fact that the United States had 



1^2 IlLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



already paid the Bey heavy tribute, and asked when these extortionate 
demands were to end. 

"Never," was the cool response; and the interview ended. 

But by this time the United States authorities had perceived the error 
they had committed in tcmjiorizing with the Barbary powers. They had 
quieted Algiers by the payment of a heavy tribute, and the gift of a frigate. 
But this had only e.xcited the cupidity of the other petty states. Tunis 
demanded like tribute The Bashaw of Tripoli, discontented with his share 
of the spoil.i, cut down the flag-staft before the American consulate, and 
sent out his cruisers to prey upon American commerce Accordingly, 
on the 20th of May, 1801, the Secretary of the Navy ordered a squadron 
prepared to proceed to the Mediterranean, .nd brn^^- th rapacious Arabs 
to terms. 

The vessels chosen for this service 'vcie the "P-esident," Commodore 
Richard Dale, "Phil delphia," Capt Barron; "Essex," Capt. Bainbridge ; 
and the schooner " Enterprise," Lieut. -Commandant Sterrett. Thou- !i 
the fleet in itself v/as powerful, the commodore was hampered by the 
timid and vacillating instructions of Congress. War had not been 
actually declared, and he was therefore to commit no overt act of 
hostility. The vessels of the fleet were to be employed simply to convey 
American merchantmen in and out of the Mediterranean Sea, and to 
be in readiness to ward off any hostile action on the part of any of the 
Barbary powers. 

On July I the fleet entered the roadstead at Gibraltar, and anchored 
in the shadow of the famous rock. Here the Americans found two of 
the most rapacious of the Tripolitan corsairs lying at anchor ; one a ship 
of twenty-six guns under the command of the Tripolitan admiral, and the 
other a brig of si.xteen guns. To keep an eye on these piratical worthies, 
the " Philadelphia " was ordered to remain at Gibraltar, while the other 
vessels scattered. The "Essex" was ordered to cruise along the northern 
shore of the Mediterranean, gathering up all the American merchantmen, 
and convoying them to sea. The " President " and the " Enterprise " made 
sail for Algiers, to convince the ruler of that country that it would be 
impolitic for him to declare war against the United States at that time. 
The desired effect was produced ; for the sight of an American frigate did 
more to tone down the harshness of the Dey's utterances, than could the 
most extortionate tribute. 



bllm:-j.vcrki's of '76. 



The cruise of the " Essex " was uneventful, save for a dispute between 
the officers of the American man-of-war and a Spanish xebec in the roads 
of Barcelona. The trouble arose in this wise: — 

The " Essex," though a small vessel, was perfectly appointed, of 
handsome model and appearance, and her crew was drilled to the highest, 
possible state of discipline and efficiency. When she cast anchor at 
Barcelona, she straightway became the talk of the town, and her officers 
became the lions of the hour, vastly to the disgust of the Spaniards on 
the xebec lying in the same port. Accordingly they took every 
opportunity to annoy the Americans, challenging the boats of the " Essex " 
as they passed the xebec, and not scrupling to use abusive language 
to Capt. Bainbridge himself. One night a boat, under command of Lieut. 
Stephen Decatur, was brought under the guns of the xebec, and held 
there while the Spaniards shouted insults from the deck above. Decatur 
called for the officer in command, and remonstrated with him, but receiving 
no satisfaction, ordered his men to shove off, declaring he would call again 
in the morning. 

Accordingly, in the forenoon of the following day, a boat from the 
"Essex," with Decatur in the stern-sheets, made for the Spanish vessel. 
Coming alongside, Decatur went on board, and asked for the officer who 
had been in command the night previous. He was told that the man he 
sought had gone ashore. 

" Well, then," thundered Decatur, in tones that could be heard all 
over the vessel, " tell him that Lieut. Decatur of the frigate ' Essex ' 
pronounces him a cowardly scoundrel, and when they meet on shore he 
will cut his cars off." And having thrown this bombshell into the enemy's 
camp, Decatur returned to his ship. 

The duel was never fought, for the civil authorities bestirred them- 
selves to prevent it. But the matter was taken up by the United States 
minister to Spain, who never permitted it to rest until the fullest apology 
was made by Spain for the indignities to which the American naval officers 
had been subjected. 

After having collected a large number of merchantmen, and taken 
them safely out of the reach of Tripolitan cruisers, the " Essex " showed 
her colors in the chief Barbary ports, and rejoined the flagship in time 
to return to the United States in December. 



184 blue-jackp;ts of '76. 



While the "Essex" had been thus pacificly employed, the little 
schooner "Enterprise" had carried off the honors by fighting the first 
and only pitched battle 'of the year. This little craft, after accompanying 
the "President" to Algiers, was ordered to Malta. While on the way 
thither she fell in with a polacre-rigged ship flying the Tripolitan colons. 
Closer inspection showed her to be a notorious corsair, well known for the 
constant and merciless warfare she waged upon American merchantmen. 
The stars and stripes, floating at the peak of the American man-of-war, 
alarmed the Moors, and they opened fire without waiting for a hail. The 
"Enterprise" took up a position alongside, and at a distance of less than a 
pistol-shot. Broadside succeeded broadside in rapid succession. The aim 
of the Americans was better than that of the enemy, and the effect of 
their fire was observable whenever the breeze cleared away the dense 
smoke that hid the vessels from each other. But the ordnance of both 
was light, so that the combat was greatly prolonged. The vessels were 
almost equally matched ; for the " Enterprise " carried twelve guns and 
ninety men, while the Tripolitan mounted fourteen guns, and had a crew 
jf eighty-five men. 

For two hours the battle continued, and the roar of the cannon and the 
Tattle of small-arms were incessant. The day was calm and clear, witi» 
.he still, warm air prevalent in the Mediterranean. Hardly was the breeze 
strong enough to carry away the sulphurous cloud of smoke that formed 
the one blot on the fair surface of the fairest of all seas. At last the 
Americans noticed that the fire of the enemy had ceased. Eagerly they 
peered through the smoke, and when the outline of their adversary could 
be made out, three ringing cheers told that the Tripolitan flag waved no 
longer in its place. Leaving their guns, the Americans were preparing to 
board the prize, when they were astonished to receive another broadside, 
and see the colors of their adversary again hoisted. 

With cries of rage the Yankee seamen again went to quarters ; and, if 
they had fought boldly before, they now fought viciously. They cared 
little to take the prize : their chief end was to send her, and the treacherous 
corsairs that manned her, to the bottom. The Tripolitans in their turn 
e.xerted every energy to conquer. Bringing their vessel alongside the 
" Enterprise," they strove repeatedly to board, only to be beaten back 
again and again. Finally, after receiving two raking broadsides from the 
" Enterprise," she again struck her flag. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '^6. 185 

This time Capt. Sterrett was in no haste to consider the combat ended. 
Keeping his men at the guns, he ordered the Tripohtan to come under 
the quarter of the "Enterprise." But no sooner had the enemy done so 
than she renewed the conflict for the third time, by attempting to 
board. 

" No quarter for the treacherous dogs," was then the cry on the 
American vessel. " Figlit on, and send them to the bottom." 

The rest of the battle was wholly in favor of the " Enterprise." Several 
times she raked her antagonist, doing great execution. Many shots took 
effect between wind and water ; and the cry arose on the decks of the 
Tripolitan, that she was sinking. The "Enterprise" kept at a safe distance, 
and by skilful sailing chose her own position, so that she could pour in a 
deliberate and murderous fire. Bitterly were the Tripolitans punished for 
their treachery. Their decks ran red with blood, half of their officers 
were shot down, the cries of their wounded rose shrill above the thunder 
of the cannon. Her flag was struck, but to this the American gunners 
paid no heed. The repeated treachery of the corsairs had left in the 
minds of the Yankee sailors but one thought, — to send the ship to 
the bottom, and rid the ocean of so pestiferous a craft. 

But, enraged though they were, the Americans could not wholly cast 
aside their feelings of humanity. Though they had been twice deceived, 
they could not keep up their attack upon a vessel so sorely stricken as to 
be unable to respond to their fire. And when at last the commander 
of the Tripolitan, a venerable old man with a flowing beard, appeared in 
the waist of the ship, sorely wounded, and, bowing submissively, cast the 
colors of his vessel into the sea, then the fire of the " Enterprise " 
ceased, although the usages of war would have justified the Americans 
in exterminating their treacherous foe. 

Having captured his enemy, Capt. Sterrett was in some uncertainty 
as to what to do with it. The instructions under which he sailed gave 
him no authority to take prizes. After some deliberation, he concluded 
to rob the captured vessel, which proved to be the " Tripoli," of her power 
for evil. Accordingly he sent Lieut. David Porter, the daring naval 
officer of whose exploits we have already spoken in the " Blue-Jackets of 
1 812," on board the prize, with instructions to dismantle her. Porter 
carried out his instructions admirably. With immense satisfaction the 



i86 ULUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

jackics he took with him forced the Tripolitans to cut away their masts, 
throw overboard all their cannon, cutlasses, pistols, and other arms ; cut 
their sails to pieces ; throw all ammunition into the sea, and, to use a 
nautical expression, "strip the ship to a girtline." One jury-mast and 
small sail alone was left. 

Porter then pointed out to the crestfallen Tripolitan captain, Mahomet 
Sons, that the " Enterprise " had not lost a man in the action, while of 
the corsairs not less than fifty were either killed or wounded. 

"Go," said he sternly to the cowering Mussulman, "go tell the 
Bashaw of Tripoli, and the people of your country, that in future the)' 
may expect only a tribute of powder and ball from the sailors of the 
United States." 

Amid the jeers and execrations of the Yankee tars, the crippled 
Tripolitan hulk, with her dead and dying, drifted slowly away. When she 
reached Tripoli, the anger of the Bashaw was unappeasable. He had 
expected his cruiser to return freighted deep with plunder, and crowded 
with American slaves. She had returned a dismantled hulk. In vain her 
commander showed his wounds to his wrathful master, and told of the size 
of his enemy, and the vigor of his resistance. The rage of the Bashaw 
demanded a sacrifice, and the luckless Mahomet Sons was led through 
the streets of Tripoli tied to a jackass. This in itself was the deepest 
degradation possible for a Mussulman, but the Bashaw supplemented it 
with five hundred bastinadoes well laid on. This severe punishment, 
together with the repeated assertions of the sailors of the defeated ship, 
that the dogs of Christians had fired enchanted shot, so terrified the 
seafaring people of Tripoli that it was almost impossible for the Bashaw 
to muster a ship's crew for a year after. 

The battle between the "Enterprise" and the "Tripoli" alone saved 
the first year of the v/ar from being entirely puerile. Certain it is that the 
distinguished naval officers who accompanied the fleet to the Mediterranean 
were so hedged about with political red tape, that they were powerless 
to take a step in defence of tlic honor of their country. While they were 
empowered to rescue any American ship that might be discovered ir. 
the grasp of a corsair, they were powerless to attempt the rescue of the 
hundreds of Americans held by Bashaw, Bey, and Dey as slaves. Commo- 
dore Dale, indeed, through diplomacy, managed to free a few of the enslaved 



BLUE-JACK I-yrS OF '76. lf^7 

Americans. Having blockaded the harbor of Tripoli with the frigate 
" President," he captured a Greek vessel having a score or more ot 
TriiJolitan soldiers aboard. He then sent, word to the Bashaw that he 
would exchange these prisoners for an equal number of Americans ; but 
the monarch apparently cared little for his subjects, for he replied that 
ho would not give one American slave for the whole lot. After much 
argument, an exchange was made upon the basis of three Tripolitans to 
one Yankee. 

It is hard, even at this late day, to regard the policy of the United 
States towards the Barbary powers with feelings other than of mortification. 
Tunis, Tripoli, Algiers, and Morocco constantly preyed on our commerce, 
and enslaved our sailors. In the streets of Algiers worked American 
slaves, chained together, and wearing iron collars upon their necks. Their 
lives were the property of their owners, and they suffered unheard of 
privations and tortures. Yet at this very time the United States kept 
a consul in Algiers, and maintained friendly relations with the Dey. 
Indeed, a historian writing in 1795 applauds the American Government 
for the care it took of its citizens enslaved in Algiers, by providing each 
with a suit of clothing yearly ! 

But the continued aggressions and extortionate demands of the Barbary 
powers became at last unbearable. The expedition to the Mediterranean, 
under Commodore Dale, was but the premonitory muttering before the 
storm. Dale returned to the United States in December, 1801, and his 
report led to the organization of the naval expedition that was to finall" 
crush the piratical powers of Barbary. 





CHAPTER XVI. 



MORE VIGOROUS POLICY. —COMMODORE MORRIS SENT TO THE MEDITERR.WEAX. — PORTER'S 
CUTTING-OUT EXPEDITION. — COMMODORE PREBLE SENT TO THE MEDITERR.ANEAN.— 
HIS ENCOUNTER WITH A BRITISH MAN-OF-WAR. — THE LOSS OF THE "PHILADELPHIA." 
— DECATUR'S DARING ADVENTURE. 




L^^IHE return of Commodore Dale from the Mediterranean, and the 
iM K5iy reports which he brought of the continued aggressions and 
insolence of the Barbary powers, made a very marked change in 
the temper of the people of the United States. Early in 1802 
Congress passed laws, which, though not in form a formal declaration of 
war, yet permitted the vigorous prosecution of hostilities against Tripoli, 
Algiers, or any other of the Barbary powers. A squadron was immediately 
ordered into commission for the purpose of chastising the corsairs, and 
was put under the command of Commodore Morris. The vessels detailed 
for this service were the "Chesapeake," thirty-eight; "Constellation," 
thirty-eight; "New York," thirty-si.\ ; "John Adams," twenty-eight; 
" Adams," twenty-eight ; and " Enterprise," twelve. Some months were 
occupied in getting the vessels into condition for sea ; and while the 
188 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 189 

" Enterprise " started in February for the Mediterranean, it was not 
until September that the last ship of the squadron followed her. It will 
be remembered that the " Philadelphia " and " Essex," of Dale's squadron, 
had been left in the Mediterranean; and as the "Boston," twenty-eight, 
had been ordered to cruise in those waters after carrying United States 
Minister Livingstone to France, the power of the Western Republic was 
well supported before the coast-line of Barbary. 

The " Enterprise " and the " Constellation " were the first of the 
squadron to reach the Mediterranean, and they straightway proceeded 
to Tripoli to begin the blockade of that port. One day, while the 
" Constellation " was lying at anchor some miles from the town, the lookout 
reported that a number of small craft were stealing along, close in shore, 
and evidently trying to sneak into the harbor. Immediately the anchor 
was raised, and the frigate set out in pursuit. The strangers proved to be 
a number of Tripolitan gun-boats, and for a time it seemed as though they 
would be cut off by the swift-sailing frigate. As they came within range 
the " Constellation " opened a rapid and well-directed fire, which soon 
drove the gun-boats to protected coves and inlets in the shore. The 
Americans then lowered their boats with the intention of engaging the 
enemy alongshore, but at this moment a large body of cavalry came 
galloping out from town to the rescue. The Yankees, therefore, returned 
to their ship, and, after firing a few broadsides at the cavalry, sailed away. 

Thereafter, for nearly a year, the record of the American squadron 
in the Mediterranean was uneventful. Commodore Morris showed little 
disposition to push matters to an issue, but confined his operations to 
sailing from port to port, and instituting brief and imperfect blockades. 

In April, 1803, the squadron narrowly escaped being seriously weakened 
by the loss of the "New York." It was when this vessel was off Malta, 
on her way to Tripoli in company with the "John Adams" and the 
" Enterprise." The drums had just beat to grog ; and the sailors, tin cup 
in hand, were standing in a line on the main deck waiting their turns at 
the grog-tub. Suddenly a loud explosion was heard, and the lower part 
of the ship was filled with smoke. 

"The magazine is on fire," was the appalling cry; and for a moment 
confusion reigned everywhere. All knew that the explosion must have 
been near the magazine, Th^TO was no one to command, for at the grog 



igo BLUE-JACKHIS OF '76. 

hour the sailors^re left to their own occupations. So the confusion spread, 
and tliere seemed to be grave danger of a panic, when Capt. Chaunce^ 
came on deck. A drummer passed hurriedly by him. 

" Drummer, beat to quarters ! " was the quick, sharp command of the 
captain. The drummer stopped short, and in a moment the resonant roll 
ot the drum rose above the shouts and the tramping of feet. As the 
well-known call rose on the air, the men regained their self-control, and 
went quietly to their stations at the guns, as though preparing to give 
battle to an enemy. 

When order had been restored, Capt. Chauncey commanded the boats 
to be lowered ; but the effect of this was to arouse the panic again. The 
people rushed from the guns, and crowded out upon the bowsprit, the 
spritsail-yard, and the knightheads. Some leaped into the sea, and swam 
for the nearest vessel. All strove to get as far from the magazine as 
possible. This poltroonery disgusted Chauncey. 

"Volunteers, follow me," he cried. "Remember, lads, it's just as well 
to be blown through three decks as one." 

So saying he plunged down the smoky hatchway, followed by Lieut 
David Porter and some other officers. Blinded and almost stifled by 
the smoke, they groped their way to the seat of the danger. With wet 
blankets, and buckets of water, they began to fight the flames. As their 
efforts began to meet with success, one of the officers went on deck, and 
succeeded in rallying the men, and forming two lines of water-carriers. 
After two hours' hard work, the ship was saved. 

The explosion was a serious one, many of the bulkheads having been 
blown down, and nineteen officers and men seriously injured, of whom 
fourteen died. It came near leading to a still more serious blunder ; for, 
when the flames broke out, the quartermaster was ordered to hoist the 
signal, "A fire on board." In his trepidation he mistook the signal, and 
announced, "A mutiny on board." Seeing this, Capt. Rodgers of the 
■'John Adams" beat his crew to quarters, and with shotted guns 
and open ports took up a raking position astern of the " New York," 
ready to quell the supposed mutiny. Luckily he discovered his error 
without causing loss of life. 

For a month after this incident, the ships were detained at Malta 
making repairs; but, near the end of May, the "John Adams," "Adams," 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. I91 

•' New York," and " Enterprise " took up the blockade of Tripoli. One 
afternoon a number of merchant vessels succeeded in evading the 
blockaders, and though cut off from the chief harbor of the town, yet took 
refuge in the port of Old Tripoli. They were small lanteen-rigged feluccas 
of light draught ; and they threaded the narrow channels, and skimmed 
over shoals whither the heavy men-of-war could not hope to follow them. 
Scarcely had they reached the shore when preparations were made for 
their defence against any cutting-out party the Americans might send 
for their capture. On the shore near the spot where the feluccas were 
beached, stood a heavy stone building, which was taken possession ot 
by a party of troops hastily despatched from the city. The feluccas were 
laden with wheat, packed in sacks ; and these sacks were taken ashore 
in great numbers, and piled up on either side of the great building so 
as to form breastworks. So well were the works planned, that they 
formed an almost impregnable fortress. Behind its walls the Tripolitans 
stood ready to defend their stranded vessels. 

That night Lieut. Porter took a light boat, and carefully reconnoitred 
the position of the enemy. He was discovered, and driven away by a 
heavy fire of musketry, but not before he had taken the bearings of 
the feluccas and their defences. The ne.xt morning he volunteered to 
go in and destroy the boats, and, having obtained permission, set out, 
accompanied by Lieut. James Lawrence and a strong party of sailors. 
There was no attempt at concealment or surprise. The Americans pushed 
boldly forward, in the teeth of a heavy fire from the Tripolitans. No 
attempt was made to return the fire, for the enemy was securely posted 
behind his ramparts. The Yankees coidd only bend to their oars, and 
press forward with all possible speed. At last the beach was reached, and 
boats-prows grated upon the pebbly sand. Quickly the jackies leaped 
from their places ; and while some engaged the Tripolitans, others, torch 
in hand, clambered upon the feluccas, and set fire to the woodwork and 
the tarred cordage. When the flames had gained some headway, the 
incendiaries returned to their boats, and made for the squadron again, 
feeling confident that the Tripolitans could do nothing to arrest the 
conflagration. But they had underestimated the courage of the barbarians ; 
for no sooner had the boats pushed off, than the Tripolitans rushed 
down to the shore, and strained every muscle for the preservation of 



192 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

their ships. The men-of-war rained grape-shot upon them ; but tlicy 
persevered, and before Porter and his followers regained their ships, 
the triumphant cries of the Tripolitans gave notice the flames were 
extinguished. Porter had been severely wounded in the thigh, and twelve 
or fifteen of his men had been killed or wounded ; so that the failure of 
the expedition to fully accomplish its purpose was bitterly lamented. The 
loss of the enemy was never definitely ascertained, though several were 
seen to fall during the conflict. On both sides the most conspicuous 
gallantry was shown ; the fighting was at times almost hand to hand, and 
once, embarrassed by the lack of ammunition, the Tripolitans seized heavy 
stones, and hurled them down upon their assailants. 

For some weeks after this occurrence, no conflict took place between 
the belligerents. Commodore Morris, after vainly trying to negotiate a 
peace with Tripoli, sailed away to Malta, leaving the "John Adams" and 
the "Adams" to blockade the harbor. To them soon returned the 
"Enterprise," and the three vessels soon after robbed the Bey of his 
largest corsair. 

On the night of the 21st of June, an unusual commotion about the 
harbor led the Americans to suspect that an attempt was being made 
to run the blockade. A strict watch was kept ; and, before morning, the 
" Enterprise " discovered a large cruiser sneaking along the coast toward 
the harbor's mouth. The Tripolitan was heavy enough to have blown 
the Yankee schooner out of the water ; but, instead of engaging her, she 
retreated to a small cove, and took up a favorable position for action. 
Signals from the " Enterprise " soon brought the other United States 
vessels to the spot ; while in response to rockets and signal guns from 
the corsair, a large body of Tripolitan cavalry came galloping down the 
beach, and a detachment of nine gunboats came to the assistance of 
the beleaguered craft. 

No time was lost in manoeuvring. Taking up a position within point- 
blank range, the "John Adams" and the "Enterprise" opened fire on 
the enemy, who returned it with no less spirit. For forty-five minutes 
the cannonade was unabated. The shot of the American gunners were 
seen to hull the enemy repeatedly, and at last the Tripolitans began to 
desert their ship. Over the rail and through the open ports the panic- 
stricken corsairs dropped into the water. The shot of the Yankees had 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 193 



made the ship's deck too hot a spot for the ■Tripohtans, and they fled 
with great alacrity. When the last had left the ship, the "John Adams" 
prepared to send boats to take possession of the prize. But at this 
moment a boat-load of Tripolitans returned to the corsair ; and the 
Americans, thinking they were rallying, began again their cannonade. 
Five minutes later, while the boat's-crew was still on the Tripolitan ship, 
she blew up. The watchers heard a sudden deafening roar ; saw a volcanic 
burst of smoke ; saw rising high above the smoke the main and mizzen 
masts of the shattered vessel, with the yards, rigging, and hamper attached. 
When the smoke cleared away, only a shapeless hulk occupied the place 
where the proud corsair had so recently floated. What caused the 
explosion, cannot be told. Were it not for the fact that many of the 
Tripolitans were blown up with the ship, it might be thought that she had 
been destroyed by her own people. 

After this encounter, the three United States vessels proceeded to 
Malta. Here Commodore Morris found orders for his recall, and he 
returned to the United States in the "Adams." In his place Commodore 
Preble had been chosen to command the naval forces ; and that officer, 
with the "Constitution," forty-four, arrived in the Mediterranean in 
September, 1802. Following him at brief intervals came the other vessels 
of his squadron, — the "Vi.xen" twelve, "Siren" sixteen, and "Argus" 
sixteen ; the " Philadelphia " thirty-eight, and the " Nautilus " twelve, 
having reached the Mediterranean before the commodore. Three of these 
vessels were commanded by young officers, destined to win enduring fame 
in the ensuing war, — Stephen Decatur, William Bainbridge, and Richard 
Somers. 

Before the last vessel of this fleet reached the Mediterranean, a 
disaster had befallen one of the foremost vessels, which cost the United 
States a good man-of-war, and forced a ship's crew of Yankee seamen to 
pass two years of their lives in the cells of a Tripolitan fortress. This 
vessel was the "Philadelphia," Capt. Bainbridge. She had reached the 
Mediterranean in the latter part of August, and signalled her arrival 
by overhauling and capturing the cruiser "Meshboha," belonging to the 
emperor of Morocco. With the cruiser was a small brig, which proved 
to be an American merchantman ; and in her hold were found the captain 
and seven men, tied hand and foot. Morocco was then ostensibly on 



194 BLUE-JACKKIS OF '76. 

friendly terms with the United States, and Ilainbridge demanded of tlic 
captain of the ciuiser by what riglit lie had eajitured an American vessel. 
To this the Moor returned, that he had done so, anticipating a war which 
had not yet been declared. 

"Then, sir," said Bainbridge sternly, "I must consider you as a 
pirate, and sliall treat you as such. I am going on deck for fifteen 
minutes. If, when I return, you can show me no authority for your 
depredations upon American commerce, I shall hang you at the yard-arm." 

So saying, Bainbridge left the cabin. In fifteen niinutes he returned, 
and, throwing the cabin doors open, stepped in with a file of marines at 
his heels. In his hand he held his watch, and he cast upon the Moor 
a look of stern inquiry. Not a word was said, but the prisoner understood 
the dread import of that glance. Nervously he began to unbutton the 
voluminous wai.stcoats which encircled his body, and from an inner pocket 
of the fifth drew forth a folded paper. It was a commission directing 
him to make prizes of all American craft that might come in his path. 
No more complete evidence of the treachery of Pvlorocco could be desired. 
Bainbridge sent the paper to Commodore Preble, and, after stopping at 
Gibraltar a day or two, proceeded to his assigned position off the harbor 
of Tripoli. 

In the latter part of October, the lookout on the " Philadelphia" spied 
a vessel running into the harboi", ami the frigate straightway set out in 
chase. The fugitive showed a clean pair of heels ; and as the shots from 
the bow-chasers failed to take effect, and the water was continually shoaling 
before the frigate's bow, the helm was put hard down, and the frigate 
began to come about. But just at that moment she ran upon a shelving 
rock, and in an instant was hard and fast aground. 

The Ameiicans were tlien in a most dangerous predicament. The 
sound of the firing had drawn a swarm of gun-boats out of the harbor 
of Tripoli, and they were fast bearing down upon the helpless frigate. 
Every possible expedient was tried for the release of the ship, but to no 
avail. At last the gunboats, discovering her heljilcss condition, crowded 
so thick about her that there was no course open but to strike. And so, 
after flooding the magazine, throwing overboard all the small-arms, and 
knocking holes in the bottom of the ship, Bainbridge reluctantly 
surrendered. 



BLUR-JACKKTS OF '76. I95 



Hardly had the flag touched the deck, when the gun-boats were 
alongside. If the Americans expected civilized treatment, they were sadly 
mistaken, for an undisciplined rabble came swarming over the taffrail. 
Lockers and chests were broken open, store-rooms ransacked, officers and 
men stripped of all the articles of finery they were wearing. It was a 
scene of unbridled pillage, in which the Tripolitan ofificers were as active 
as their men. An officer being held fast in the grasp of two of the 
Tripolitans, a third would ransack his pockets, and strip him of any 
property they might covet. Swords, watches, jewels, and money were 
l)roniptly confiscated by the captors ; and they even ripped the epaulets 
from the shoulders of the officers' uniforms. No resistance was made, 
until one of the pilferers tried to tear from Bainbridge an ivory miniature 
of his young and beautiful wife. Wresting himself free, the captain 
knocked down the vandal, and made so determined a resistance that his 
despoilers allowed him to keep the picture. 

When all the portable property was in the hands of the victors, the 
A.mcricans were loaded into boats, and taken ashore. It was then late at 
night ; but the captives were marched through the streets to the palace 
of the Bashaw, and e.xhibited to that functionary. After expressing great 
satisfaction at the capture, the Bashaw ordered the sailors thrown into 
prison, while the officers remained that night as his guests. He entertained 
them with an excellent supper, but the next morning they were shown to 
the gloomy prison apartments that were destined to be their home until the 
end of the war. Of their life there we shall have more to say hereafter. 

While this disaster had befallen the American cause before Tripoli, 
Commodore Preble in the flag-ship " Constitution," accompanied by the 
" Nautilus," had reached Gibraltar. There he found Commodore Rodgers, 
whom he was to relieve, with the " New York " and the " John Adams." 
I lardly had the commodore arrived, when the case of the captured Morocco 
ship " Meshboha " was brought to his attention ; and he straightway went 
to Tangier to request the emperor to define his position with regard to 
the United States. Though the time of Commodore Rodgers on the 
Mediterranean station had expired, he consented to accompany Preble to 
Tangier ; and the combined squadrons of the two commodores had si> 
great an effect upon the emperor, that he speedily conclnded a treaty. 
Commodore Rodgers then sailed for the United States, and Preble began 
his preparations for an active prosecution of the war with Tripoli. 



196 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



It was on the 31st of October that the "Philadelphia" fell into the 
hands of the Tripolitans, but it was not until Nov. 27 that the news of 
the disaster reached Commodore Preble and the other officers of the 
squadron. Shortly after the receipt of the news, the commodore proceeded 
with his flag-ship, accompanied by the " Enterprise," to Tripoli, to renew 
the blockade which had been broken by the loss of the " Philadelphia." 

It was indeed high time that some life should be infused into the war 
with Tripoli. Commodore Dale had been sent to the Mediterranean with 
instructions that tied him hand and foot. Morris, who followed him, 
was granted more discretion by Congress, but had not been given the 
proper force. Now that Preble had arrived with a sufficient fleet, warlike 
instructions, and a reputation for dash unexcelled by that of any officer 
in the navy, the blue-jackets looked for some active service. Foreign 
nations were beginning to speak scornfully of the harmless antics of the 
United States fleet in the Mediterranean, and the younger American 
officers had fought more than one duel with foreigners to uphold the 
honor of the American service. They now looked to Preble to give them 
a little active service. An incident which occurred shortly after the arrival 
of the " Constitution " in the Bay of Gibraltar convinced the American 
officers that their commodore had plenty of fire and determination in his 
character. 

One night the lookouts reported a large vessel alongside, and the hail 
from the "Constitution" brought only a counter-hail from the stranger. 
Both vessels continued to hail without any answer being returned, when 
Preble came on deck. Taking the trumpet from the hand of the quarter- 
master, he shouted, — 

" I now hail you for the last time. If you do not answer, I'll fire a 
shot into you." 

"If you fire, I'll return a broadside," was the reply. 

" I'd like to sec you do it. I now hail you for an answer. What ship 
is that.'" 

" This is H. B. M. ship ' Donegal,' eighty-four ; Sir Richard Strachan, 
an English commodore. Send a boat aboard." 

"This is the United States ship 'Constitution,' forty-four," answered 
Preble, in high dudgeon ; " Edward Preble, an American commodore , 
and I'll be d— d if I send a boat on board of any ship. Blow your matches, 
boys ! " 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 197 



The Englishman saw a conflict coming, and sent a boat aboard with 
profuse apologies. She was really the frigate "Maidstone," but being in 
no condition for immediate battle had prolonged the hailing in order to 
make needed preparations. 

On the 23d of December, while the " Constitution " and " Enterprise " 
were blockading Tripoli, the latter vessel overhauled and captured the 
ketch " Mastico," freighted with female slaves that were being sent by 
the Bashaw of Tripoli to the Porte, as a gift. The capture in itself was 
unimportant, save for the use made of the ketch later. 

The vessels of the blockading squadron, from their station outside the 
bar, could see the captured " Philadelphia " riding lightly at her moorings 
under the guns of the Tripolitan batteries. Her captors had carefully 
repaired the injuries the Americans had inflicted upon the vessel before 
surrendering. Her foremast was again in place, the holes in her bottom 
were plugged, the scars of battle were effaced, and she rode at anchor 
as pretty a frigate as ever delighted the eye of a tar. 

From his captivity Bainbridge had written letters to Commodore 
Preble, with postscripts written in lemon-juice, and illegible save when 
the sheet of paper was exposed to the heat. In these postscripts he 
urged the destruction of the " Philadelphia." Lieut. Stephen Decatur, 
in command of the " Enterprise," eagerly seconded these proposals, and 
proposed to cut into the port with the " Enterprise," and undertake 
the destruction of the captured ship. Lieut. -Commander Stewart of the 
"Nautilus" made the same proposition; but Preble rejected both, not 
wishing to imperil a man-of-war on so hazardous an adventure. 

The commodore, however, had a project of his own which he 
communicated to Decatur, and in which that adventurous sailor heartily 
joined. This plan was to convert the captured ketch into a man-of-war, 
man her with volunteers, and with her attempt the perilous adventure 
of the destruction of the " Philadelphia." The project once broached was 
quickly carried into effect. The ketch was taken into the service, and 
named the " Intrepid." News of the expedition spread throughout the 
squadron, and many officers eagerly volunteered their services. When 
the time was near at hand, Decatur called the crew of the " Enterprise " 
together, told thum of the plan of the proposed e.xpedition, pointed out 
its dangers, and called for volunteers. Every man and boy on the vessel 



rgS BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



stepped forward, and begged to be taken. Decatur chose sixty-two 
picked men, and was about to leave the deck, when his steps were 
arrested by a young boy who begged hard to be taken. 

"Why do you want to go, Jack ? " asked the commodore. 

"Well, sir," said Jack, "you see, I'd kinder like to see the country." 

The oddity of the boy's reason struck Decatur's fancy, and he told 
Jack to report with the rest. 

On the night of Feb. 3, 1804, the "Intrepid," accompanied by the 
"Siren," parted company with the rest of the fleet, and made for Tripoli. 
The voyage was stormy and fatiguing. More than seventy men were 
cooped up in the little ketch, which had quarters scarcely for a score. 
The provisions which had been put aboard were in bad condition, so that 
after the second day they had only bread and water upon which to live. 
When they had reached the entrance to the harbor of Tripoli, they 
were driven back by the fury of the gale, and forced to take shelter 
in a neighboring cove. There they remained until the 15th, repairing 
damages, and completing their preparations for the attack. 

The weather having moderated, the two vessels left their place of 
concealment, and shaped their course for Tripoli. On the way, Decatur 
gave his forces careful instructions as to the method of attack. The 
Americans were divided into several boarding parties, each with its own 
officer and work. One party was to keep possession of the upper deck, 
another was to carry the gun-deck, a third should drive the enemy from 
the steerage, and so on. All were to carry pistols in their belts ; but the 
fighting, as far as possible, was to be done with cutlasses, so that no 
noise might alarm the enemy in the batterie-s, and the vessels in the port. 
One party was to hover near the "Philadelphia" in a light boat, and 
kill all Tripolitans who might try to escape to the shore by swimming. 
The watchword for the night was "Philadelphia." 

About noon, the " Intrepid " came in sight of the towers of Tripoli. 
Both the ketch and the " Siren " had been so disguised that the enemy 
could not recognize them, and they therefore stood boldly for the harbor. 
As the wind was fresh, Decatur saw that he was likely to make port 
before night ; and he therefore dragged a cable and a number of buckets 
astern to lessen his speed, fearing to take in sail, lest the suspicion.", 
of the enemy should be aroused. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. ^99 

When within about five miles of the town, the " Philadelphia " became 
visible. She floated lightly at her anchorage under the guns of two 
heavy batteries. Behind her lay moored two Tripolitan cruiscr.s, anti 
near by was a fleet of gunboats. It was a powerful stronghold into 
which the Yankee blue-jackets were about to carry the torch. 

About ten o'clock, the adventurers reached the harbor's mouth. The 
wind had fallen so that the ketch was wafted slowly along over an almost 
glassy sea. The " Siren " took up a position in the offing, while the 
"Intrepid," with her devoted crew, steered straight for the frigate. 
A new moon hung in the sky. From the city arose the soft low murmur 
of the night. In the fleet all was still. 

On the decks of the " Intrepid " but twelve men were visible. The 
rest lay flat on the deck, in the shadow of the bulwarks or weather-boards. 
Her course was laid straight for the bow of the frigate, which she 
was to foul. When within a short distance, a hail came from the 
"Philadelphia." In response, the pilot of the ketch answered, that 
the ketch was a coaster from Malta, that she had lost her anchors in the 
late gale, and had been nearly wrecked, and that she now asked permission 
to ride by the frigate during the night. The people on the frigate were 
wholly deceived, and sent out ropes to the ketch, allowing one of the 
boats of the " Intrepid " to make a line fast to the frigate. The ends 
of the ropes on the ketch were passed to the hidden men, who pulled 
lustily upon them, thus bringing the little craft alongside the frigate. 
But, as she came into clearer view, the suspicions of the Tripolitans were 
aroused ; and when at last the anchors of the " Intrepid " were seen 
hanging in their places at the cat-heads, the Tripolitans cried out that 
they had been deceived, and warned the strangers to keep off. At the 
same moment the cry, "Americanos! Americanos!" rang through the 
ship, and the alarm was given. 

By this time the ketch was fast to the frigate. " Follow me, lads,' 
cried Decatur, and sprang for the chain-plates of the " Philadclplii.i ' 
Clinging there, he renewed his order to board ; and tlie men sprang to 
their feet, and were soon clambering on board the frigate. Lieut. Morris 
first trod the deck of the " Philadelphia," Decatur followed close after, 
and then the stream of men over the rail and through the open ports 
was constant. Complete as was the surprise, the entire absence of anv 



200 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



resistance was astonishing. Few of the Tiirl^s had weapons in their 
hands, and those who had fled before the advancing Americans. On all 
sides the splashing of water told that the affrighted Turks were trying 
to make their escape that way. In ten minutes Decatur and his men 
had complete possession of the ship. 

Doubtless at that moment the successful adventurers bitterly regretted 
that they could not take out of the harbor the noble frigate they had so 
nobly recaptured. But the orders of the commodore, and the dangers of 
their own situation, left them no choice. Nothing was to be done but 
to set fire to the frigate, and retreat with all possible expedition. The 
combustibles were brought from the ketch, and piled about the frigate, 
and lighted. So quickly was the work done, and so rapidly did the flames 
spread, that the people who lit the fires in the storerooms and cockpit 
had scarce time to get on deck before their retreat was cut off by the 
flames. Before the ketch could be cast off from the sides of the frigate, 
the flames came pouring out of the port-holes, and flaming sparks fell 
aboard the smaller vessel, so that the ammunition which lay piled amid- 
ships was in grave danger of being exploded. Axes and cutlasses were 
swung with a will ; and soon the bonds which held the two vessels 
together were cut, and the ketch was pushed off. Then the blue-jackets 
bent to their sweeps, and soon the " Intrepid " was under good headway. 
"Now, lads," cried Decatur, "give them three cheers." 
And the jackies responded with ringing cheers, that mingled with the 
roar of the flames that now had the frame of the "Philadelphia" in their 
control. Then they grasped their sweeps again, and the little vessel glided 
away through a hail of grape and round shot from the Tripolitan batteries 
and men-of-war. Though the whistle of the missiles was incessant, and 
the splash of round-shot striking the water could be heard on every side, 
no one in the boat was hurt ; and the only shot that touched the ketch 
went harmlessly through her mainsail. As they pulled away, they saw 
the flam.es catch the rigging of the "Philadelphia," and run high up the 
masts. Then the hatchways were burst open, and great gusts of flame 
leaped out. The shotted guns of the frigate were discharged in quick 
succession ; one battery sending its iron messengers into the streets of 
Tripoli, while the guns on the other side bore upon Fort English. The 
angry glare of the flames, and the flash of the cannon, lighted up the bay ; 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 20I 

while the thunders of the cannonade, and the cries of the Tripolitans, 
told of the storm that was raging. 

The ruddy light of the burning ship bore good news to two anxious 
parties of Decatur's friends. Capt. Bainbridge and the other American 
officers whom the Tripolitans had captured with the " Philadelphia " were 
imprisoned in a tower looking out upon the bay. The rapid thunder of 
the cannonade on this eventful night awakened them ; and they rushed 
to their windows, to see the " Philadelphia," the Bashaw's boasted prize, 
in flames. Right lustily they added their cheers to the general tumult, 
nor ceased their demonstrations of joy until a surly guard came and 
ordered them from the windows. 

Far out to sea another band of watchers hailed the light of the 
conflagration with joy. The " Siren " had gone into the offing when 
the " Intrepid " entered the harbor, and there awaited with intense anxiety 
the outcome of the adventure. After an hour's suspense, a rocket was 
seen to mount into the sky, and burst over Tripoli. It was the signal 
of success agreed upon. Boats were quickly lowered, and sent to the 
harbor's mouth to meet and cover the retreat of the returning party. 
Hardly had they left the side of the ship, when the red light in the sky 
told that the " Philadelphia " was burning ; and an hour later Decatur 
himself sprang over the taffrail, and proudly announced his victory. 

Not a man had been lost in the whole affair. As the expedition had 
been perfect in conception, so it was perfect in execution. The adventure 
became the talk of all Europe. Lord Nelson, England's greatest admiral, 
said of it, " It was the most bold and daring act of the ages." And when 
the news reached the United States, Decatur, despite his youth, was 
made a captain. 





CHAPTER XVII. 

^ STIRRING YEAR. — THE BOMBARDMENT OF TRIPOLI. — DECATUR'S HAND-TO-HAND FIGHT.- 
LIEUT. TRIPPE'S URAVERY. — LIEUT. SPENCE'S BOLD DEED. — SOMERS'S NARROW ESCAPE. 
— THE FLOATING MINE. —THE FATAL EXPLOSION. — CLOSE OF THE WAR. — THE END. 




ECATUR'S brilliant exploit set the key-note for the year 1804; 
and, for the remainder of that year, the Americans carried on 
the war with no less spirit and dash. A high degree of darin£j 
had been infused into the men by so notable an examole ; and 
long before the year was out, the blue-jackets began to consider themselves 
invincible, and were ready to undertake any exploit for which their services 
might be required. 

The lesser events of the year, we must pass over hastily. The 
maintenance of the blockade of Tripoli led to one or two slight actions, 
and an occasional capture of little consequence. Thus, in March, the 
" Siren " captured the " Transfer," privateer, which was trying to run 
the blockade. A month or two later, a coasting felucca, loaded with 
supplies, was chased ashore near Tripoli, and two boats' crews were 
sent to take possession of her. The Tripolitans, as usual, sent out a 
body of cavalry to protect the felucca, and the Americans were driven 
off. Thereupon the American blockading squadron took up a position 
within range, and threw solid shot into the felucca until she was a 
202 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 2O3 

complete wreck. Nor did the Tripolitan cavalry escape without a shot 
or two. 

But while the smaller vessels of the Mediterranean squadron were 
enforcing the blockade before Tripoli, Commodore Preble, with the 
flag-ship and the larger vessels, was at Malta preparing for a vigorous 
attack upon the city of the Bashaw itself. He had added to the fleet 
he had brought with him from the United States two bomb-vessels and 
six gunboats. He had also added somewhat to the armament of the 
" Constitution," and now proposed to try the effect upon Tripoli of a 
vigorous bombardment. By the 21st of July, the commodore was able to 
leave Malta with his fleet, fully prepared for active hostilities. 

Tripoli was then defended by heavy batteries mounting a hundred and 
fifteen guns. In the harbor were moored nineteen gunboats, two galleys, 
two schooners, and a brig. The available force under the command of 
the Bashaw numbered not less than twenty-five thousand men. It was 
no pygmy undertaking upon which the Americans had embarked. 

On the 31st of August, 1804, the first attack was made; and though 
only a bombardment of the town had been contemplated, there followed 
one of the most desperate hand-to-hand naval battles recorded in history. 

It was a sultry midsummer day, and the white walls of the city of 
Tripoli glared under the fierce rays of a tropical sun. A light breeze 
stirred the surface of the water, and made life on the ships bearable. 
Before this breeze the American squadron ran down towards the town. 
All preparations had been made for a spirited bombardment ; and as the 
Americans drew near the shore, they saw that the Tripolitans had 
suspected the attack, and had made ready for it. 

The attacking forces formed into two lines, with the regular naval 
vessels in the rear, and the gunboats and bomb-vessels in front. As 
the vessels in the van were to bear the brunt of the battle, they were 
manned by picked crews from the larger vessels, and had for their officers 
the most daring spirits of the Mediterranean squadron. At half-past 
two the firing commenced, and soon from every vessel in the American 
line shells and shot were being thrown into the city of the Bashaw. The 
Tripolitan batteries returned the fire with vigor, and their gunboats 
pressed forward to drive the assailants back. At the approach of the 
Tripolitan gunboats, the Americans diverted their aim from the city, and, 



204 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

loading with grape and canister, turned upon their foes a murderous fire. 
Upon the eastern division of the enemy's gunboats, nine in number, 
Decatur led tne four boats under his command. The advance of the 
enemy was checked ; but still the Americans pressed on, until fairly within 
the smoke of the Tripolitans' guns. Here the boats were held in position 
by the brawny sailors at the sweeps, while the gunners poured grape and 
canister into the enemy. Fearfully were the Americans outnumbered. 
They could hope for no help from their friends in the men-of-war in 
the rear. They were hemmed in on all sides by hostile gunboats, more 
strongly manned, and heavier in metal, than they. They were outnumbered 
three to one ; for gunboat No. 3, which had belonged to Decatur's division, 
had drawn out of the fight in obedience to a signal for recall, which had 
been displayed by mistake on the "Constitution." Then Decatur displayed 
his desperate courage. Signalling to his companions to close with their 
adversaries and board, he laid his vessel alongside the nearest gunboat ; 
and in a trice every American of the crew was swarming over the enemy's 
bulwarks. Taken by surprise, the Turks retreated. The gunboat was 
divided down the centre by a long, narrow hatchway ; and as the Yankees 
came tumbling over the bulwarks, the Turks retreated to the farther side. 
This gave Decatur time to rally his men ; and, dividing them into two 
parties, he sent one party around by the stern of the boat, while he led 
a party around the bow. The Turks were dazed by the suddenness of 
the attack, and cowed by the fearful effect of the Americans' last volley 
before boarding. Their captain lay dead, with fourteen bullets in his 
body. Many of the officers were wounded, and all the survivors were 
penned into a narrow space by the two parties of blue-jackets. The 
contest was short. Hampered by lack of room in which to wield their 
weapons, the Turks were shot down or bayoneted. Many leaped over 
the gunwale into the sea; many were thrown into the open hatchway; 
and the remnant, throwing down their arms, pleaded piteously for quarter. 
Decatur had no time to e.xult in his victory. Hastily securing his prisoners 
below decks, and making his prize fast to his own vessel, he bore down 
upon the Tripolitan next to leeward. 

While shaping his course for this vessel, Decatur was arrested by a hail 
from the gunboat which had been commanded by his brother James. He 
was told that his brother had gallantly engaged and captured a Tripolitan 



BLUE-JACKE'lS OF '^6. 205 

gunboat, but that, on going aboard of her after her flag had been struck, 
he had been shot down by the cowardly Turk who was in command. The 
murderer then rallied his men, drove the Americans away, and carried 
his craft out of the battle. 

Decatur's grief for the death of his brother gave way, for the time, to 
his anger on account of the base treachery by which the victim met his 
death. Casting prudence to the winds, he turned his boat's prow towards 
the gunboat of the murderer, and, urging on his rowers, soon laid the 
enemy aboard. Cutlass in hand, Decatur was first on the deck of the 
enemy. Behind him followed close Lieut. Macdonough and nine blue- 
jackets. Nearly forty Turks were ready to receive the boarders. As the 
boarders came over the rail, they fired their pistols at the enemy, and then 
sprang down, cutlass in hand. The Turks outnumbered them five to one ; 
but the Americans rallied in a bunch, and dealt lusty blows right and left. 
At last, Decatur singled out a man whom he felt sure was the commander, 
and the murderer of his brother. He was a man of gigantic frame ; his 
head covered with a scarlet cap, his face half hidden by a bristly black beard. 
He was armed with a heavy boarding-pike, with which he made a fierce 
lunge at Decatur. The American parried the blow, and make a stroke al 
the pike, hoping to cut off its point. But the force of the blow injured the 
Tripolitan's weapon not a whit, while Decatur's cutlass broke short off 
at the hilt. Witli a yell of triumph the Turk lunged again. Decatur 
threw up his arm, and partially avoided the thrust ; so that the pike pierced 
his breast, but inflicted only a slight wound. Grappling the weapon, 
Decatur tore it from the wound, wrested it from the Turk, and made a 
lunge at him, which he avoided. The combatants then clinched and fell 
to the deck, fiercely struggling for life and death. About them fought 
{heir followers, who strove to aid their respective commanders. Suddenly 
a Tripolitan officer, who had fought his way to a place above the heads of 
the two officers, aimed a blow at the head of Decatur. His victim was 
powerless to guard himself. One American .sailor only was at hand. This 
was Reuben James, a young man whose desperate fighting had already cost 
him wounds in both arms, so that he could not lift a hand to save his com- 
mander. ]?ut, though thus desperately wounded, James had yet one offering 
to lay before his captain, — his life. And he showed himself willing to 
make this last and greatest sacrifice, by thrusting his head into the path 



2o6 BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 

of the descending scimetar, and taking upon his own skull the blow 
intended for Decatur. The hero fell bleeding to the deck ; a pistol-shot 
from an American ended the career of the Turk, and Decatur was left to 
struggle with his adversary upon the deck. 

But by this time the great strength of the Turkish cajDtain was beginning 
to tell in the death-struggle. His right arm was clasped like an iron band 
around the American captain, while with his left hand he drew from his 
belt a short yataglian, which he was about to plunge into the throat of 
his foe. Decatur lay on his side, with his eyes fi.xed upon the face of his 
foe. He saw the look of triumph flash in the eyes of the Turk ; he saw 
the gleaming steel of the yataghan as it was drawn from its sheath. 
Mustering all his strength, he writhed in the grasp of his burly foe. He 
wrested his left arm clear, and caught the Turk's wrist just as the fatal 
blow was falling ; then with his right hand he drew fron his pocket a small 
pistol. Pressing this tightly against the back of his enemy, he fired. The 
ball passed through the body of the Turk, and lodged in Decatur's clothing. 
\ moment later the Tripolitan's hold relaxed, and he fell back dead ; 
while Decatur, covered with his own blood and that of his foe, rose to his 
feet, and stood amidst the pile of dead and wounded men that had gathered 
during the struggle around the battling chiefs. 

The fall of their captain disheartened the Tripolitans, and they 
speedily threw down their arms. The prize was then towed out of the 
line of battle ; and, as by this time the American gunboats were drawing 
off, Decatur took his prizes into the shelter of the flag-ship. 

While Decatur had been thus engaged, the gunboats under his 
command had not been idle. Lieut. Trippe, in command of No. 6, had 
fought a hand-to-hand battle that equalled that of Decatur. Trippe's 
plan of attack had been the same as that of his leader. Dashing at the 
enemy, he had let fly a round of grape and canister, then boarded in 
the smoke and confusion. But his boat struck that of the enemy with 
such force as to recoil ; and Trippe, who had sprung into the enemy's 
rigging, found himself left with but nine of his people, to confront nearly 
two-score Tripolitans. The Americans formed in a solid phalanx, and 
held their ground bravely. Again the two commanders singled each 
other out, and a fierce combat ensued. The Turk was armed with a 
cutlass, while Trippe fought with a short boarding-pike. They fought 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 207 

with caution, sparring and fencing, until each had received several slight 
wounds. At last the Tripolitan struck Trippe a crushing blow on the 
head. The American fell, half stunned, upon his knees ; and at this 
moment a second Tripolitan aimed a blow at him from behind, but was 
checked and killed by an American marine. Rallying all his strength, 
Trippe made a fierce thrust at his adversary. This time the sharp pike 
found its mark, and passed through the body of the Tripolitan captain, 
who fell to the deck. His men, seeing him fall, abandoned the contest, 
and the Americans were soon bearing away their prize in triumph. But 
in the excitement of victory no one thought to haul down the Tripolitan 
flag, which still flaunted defiant at the end of the long lateen mast. So, 
when the prize came near the " Vi.xen," the American man-of-war, 
mistaking her for an enemy, let fly a broadside, that brought down 
flag, mast and all. Luckily no one was hurt, and the broadside was not 
repeated. 

But by this time the wind had veered round into an unfavorable 
quarter, and the flag-ship showed a signal for the discontinuance of the 
action. The gunboats and their prizes were taken in tow by the 
schooners and brigs, and towed out of range of the enemy's shot. 
While this operation was going on, the " Constitution " kept up a rapid 
fire upon the shore batteries, and not until the last of the smaller craft 
was out of range, did she turn to leave the fray. As she came about, 
a shot came in one of her stern-ports, struck a gun near which Commodore 
Preble was standing, broke to pieces, and scattered death and wounds about. 

When the squadron had made an offing, Preble hoisted a signal for 
the commanders to come aboard the flag-ship, and make their reports. 
He was sorely disappointed in the outcome of the fray, and little 
inclined to recognize the conspicuous instances of individual gallantry 
shown by his officers. He had set his heart upon capturing the entire 
fleet of nine Tripolitan gunboats, and the escape of si.\ of them had 
roused his naturally irascible disposition to fury. As he stalked his 
quarter-deck, morose and silent, Decatur came aboard. The young 
officer still wore the bloody, smoke-begrimed uniform in which he had 
grappled with the Turk, his face was begrimed with powder, his hands 
and breast covered with blood. As he walked to the quarter-deck, he 
was the centre of observation of all on the flagship. Stepping up to the 
commodore, he said quietly, — 



2o8 BLUE-J^<^K^ETS OF '76. 

"Well, commodore, I have brought you out three of the gunboats." 

Preble turned upon him fiercely, seized him with both hands by the 
collar, and shaking him like a schoolboy, snarled out, — 

" Ay, sir, why did you not bring me more ? " 

The blood rushed to Decatur's face. The insult was more than he 
could bear. His hand sought his dagger, but the commodore had left 
the quarter-deck. Turning on his heel, the outraged officer walked to 
the side, and called his boat, determined to leave the ship at once. 
But the officers crowded about him, begging him to be calm, and 
reminding him of the notoriously quick temper of the commodore. While 
they talked, there came a cabin steward with a message. " The commodore 
wishes to see Capt. Decatur below." Decatur hesitated a moment, then 
obeyed. Some time passed, but he did not re-appear on deck. The 
officers became an.xious, and at last, upon some pretext, one sought the 
commodore's cabin. There he found Preble and Decatur, sitting together, 
friendly, but both silent, and in tears. The apology had been made anc 
accepted. 

There is one humble actor in the first attack upon Tripoli, whom we 
cannot abandon without a word. This is Reuben James. That heroic 
young sailor quickly recovered from the bad wound he received when he 
interposed his own head to save his commander's life. One day Decatur 
called him aft, and publicly asked him what could be done to reward him 
for his unselfish heroism. The sailor was embarrassed and nonplussed. 
He rolled his quid of tobacco in his mouth, and scratched his head, without 
replying. His shipmates were eager with advice. " Double pay, Jack : 
the old man will refuse you nothing;" "a boatswain's berth ; " "a pocket- 
full of money and shore leave," were among the suggestions. But James 
put them aside. He had decided. 

"If you please, sir," said he, "let somebody else hand out the hammocks 
to the men when they are piped down. That is a sort of business that 
I don't exactly like." 

The boon was granted ; and ever afterwards, when the crew was piped 
to stow away hammocks, Reuben James sauntered about the decks with 
his hands in his pockets, the very personification of elegant leisure. 

For modesty, the request of the preserver of Decatur is only equalled 
by that of the sailor who decided the battle between the " Bonne Homme 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 209 

Richard" and the "Serapis." He had stationed himself on the yard-arm, 
and was dropping hand-grenades upon the deck of the " Serapis." At 
last a well-aimed grenade set fire to some powder on the enemy's ship, 
and virtually decided the day in favor of the Americans. When asked 
by Paul Jones what he would have as a reward for this great service, 
he suggested double rations of grog for the ne.xt week as the proper 
recompense. This he got, and no more. 

But to return to the American fleet before Tripoli. Four days were 
spent in repairing damages, and on the 7th of August a second attack 
was made upon the town. The disposition of the American forces was 
much the same as on the occasion of the first attack, although the 
Americans were re-enforced by the three captured gunboats. The fighting 
was confined to long-range cannonading ; for the enemy had been taught 
a lesson, and was afraid to try conclusions hand to hand with the 
Americans. About three o'clock in the afternoon, a tremendous explosion 
drew the gaze of every one to the spot where gunboat No. 8 had been 
anchored. At first only a dense mass of smoke, with the water surrounding 
it littered with wreckage, was to be seen. When the smoke cleared away, 
the extent of the disaster was evident. The gunboat had blown up. Her 
bow alone remained above water, and there a handful of plucky men were 
loading the great twenty-six-pound cannon that formed her armament. 
Lieut. Spence commanded the gunners, and urged them on. 

" Now, lads, be lively," he cried. " Let's get one shot at the Turks 
before we sink." 

Every ship in the squadron was cheering the devoted crew of No. 8. 
From every vessel anxious eyes watched the men who thus risked their 
lives for one shot. The water was rushing into the shattered hulk ; and 
just as Spence pulled the lanyard, and sent a cast-iron shot into Tripoli, 
the wreck gave a lurch, and went down. Her crew was left struggling 
in the water. Spence, who could not swim, saved himself by clinging to 
an oar, while his men struck out for the nearer vessels, and were soon 
receiving the congratulations of their comrades. 

In this attack, Richard Somers, a most courageous and capable officer, 
who a few weeks later met a tragic end, narrowly escaped death. He 
was in command of gunboat No. i, and while directing the attack stood 
leaning against her flagstaff. He saw a shot flving in his direction. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



Involuntarily he ducked his head, and the next instant the flying shot 
cut away the flagstaff just above him. When the action was over, 
Lieut. Somers stood by the pole, and found that the shot had cut it at 
the exact height of his chin. 

After firing for about three hours, the American squadron drew off. 
Little had been accomplished, for the stone walls and fortresses of Tripoli 
were not to be damaged very greatly by marine artillery. The Americans 
themselves had suffered seriously. Their killed and wounded amounted 
to eighteen men. They had lost one gunboat by an explosion, and all the 
Vessels had suffered somewhat from the Tripolitan fire. 

That night the Americans were gladdened by the arrival of the frigate 
"John Adams," bringing letters and news from home. She brought also 
the information that re-enforcements were coming. Accordingly Preble 
determined to defer any further attack upon Tripoli until the 'arrival of 
the expected vessels. In the mean time he had several interviews with the 
Bashaw upon the subject of peace ; but, as the Turk would not relinquish 
his claim of five hundred dollars ransom for each captive in his hands, no 
settlement was reached. 

While waiting for the re-enforcements, Preble continued his preparations 
for another attack. The ships were put into fighting trim, munition hauled 
over, and repeated and thorough reconnoissances of the enemy's works 
made. It was while on the latter duty, that the brig " Argus " narrowly 
escaped destruction. With Preble on board, she stood into the harbor, and 
was just coming about before one of the batteries, when a heavy shot 
raked her bottom, cutting several planks half through. Had the shot 
been an inch higher, it would have sunk the brig. 

By the 24th of August, Preble's patience was exhausted ; and, without 
waiting longer for the expected squadron, he began an attack upon the 
town. On the night of the 24th, a few shells were thrown into Tripoli, 
but did little damage. Four days later, a more determined attack was 
made, in which every vessel in the squadron took part. Two of the 
enemy's gunboats were sunk ; but with this exception little material damage 
was done, though the Americans chose the most advantageous positions, 
and fired fast and well. It was becoming evident that men-of-war were 
no match for stone walls. 

During this engagement, the American fleet came within range of 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



the Bashaw's palace, and the flying shot and shell drove that dignitary 
and his suite to a bomb-proof dungeon. One heavy shot flew in at the 
window of the cell in which Capt. Bainbridge was confined, and striking 
the wall, brought down stones and mortar upon him as he lay in bed, 
so that he was seriously bruised. But the American captain was in no 
way daunted, and the next day wrote in sympathetic ink to Preble, 
telling him to keep up his fire, for the Tripolitans were greatly harassed 
by it. 

On Sept. 3, yet another attack upon the town and fortress was 
made. As in the foregoing instances, nothing was accomplished except 
the throwing of a vast quantity of shot and shell. Capt. Bainbridge, in a 
secret letter to Preble, reported, that of the shells he had seen falling 
in the city very few exploded, and the damage done by them was therefore 
very light. Preble investigated the matter, and found that the fuse-holes 
of many of the shells had been stopped with lead, so that no fire could 
enter. The shells had been bought in Sicily, where they had been made 
to resist a threatened invasion by the French. It is supposed that the 
had been thus ruined by French secret agents. 

But, before this time. Commodore Preble, and the officers under his 
command, had about reached the conclusion that Tripoli could not be 
reduced by bombardment. Accordingly they cast about for some new 
method of attack. The plan that was finally adopted proved unfortunate 
in this instance, just as similar schemes for the reduction of fortresses have 
prove futile throughout all history. Briefly stated, the plan was to send 
a fire-ship, or rather a floating mine, into the harbor, to explode before the 
walls of the fortress, and in the midst of the enemy's cruisers. 

The ketch " Intrepid," which had carried Decatur and his daring 
followers out of the harbor of Tripoli, leaving the " Philadelphia " burning 
behind them, was still with the fleet. This vessel was chosen, and with 
all possible speed was converted into an "infernal," or floating mine. "A 
small room, or magazine, had been planked up in the hold of the ketch, 
just forward of her principal mast," writes Fcnimore Cooper. "Communi- 
cating with this magazine was a trunk, or tube, that led aft to another room 
filled with combustibles. In the planked room, or magazine, were placed 
one hundred barrels of gunpowder in bulk ; and on the deck, immediately 
above the powder, were laid fifty thirteen-and-a-half-inch shells, and one 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 



hundred nine-inch shells, with a large quantity of shot, pieces of kentledge, 
and fragments of iron of different sorts. A train was laid in the trunk, or 
tube, and fuses were attached in the proper manner. In addition to this 
arrangement, the other small room mentioned was filled with splinters and 
light wood, which, besides firing the train, were to keep the enemy f'om 
boarding, as the flames would be apt to induce them to apprehend an 
immediate explosion." 

Such was the engine of death prepared. The plan of operations was 
simply to put a picked crew on this floating volcano, choose a dark night, 
take the "infernal" into the heart of the enemy's squadron, fire it, and let 
the crew escape in boats as best they might. 

The leadership of this desperate enterprise was intrusted to Lieut. 
Richard Somers. Indeed, it is probable that the idea itself originated with 
him, for a commanding officer would be little likely to assign a subordinate 
a duty so hazardous. Moreover, there existed between Decatur and Somers 
a generous rivalry. Each strove to surpass the other ; and since Decatur's 
( xploit with the " Philadelphia," Somers had been seeking an opportunity 
to win equal distinction. It is generally believed, that, having conceived 
the idea of the " infernal," he suggested it to Preble, and claimed for 
himself the right of leadership. 

But ten men and one ofificer were to accompany Mr. Somers on his 
perilous trip. Yet volunteers were numerous, and only by the most 
inflexible decision could the importunate ones be kept back. The oflScer 
chosen was Lieut. Wadsworth of the " Constitution," and the men were 
chosen from that ship and from the "Nautilus." 

As the time for carrying out the desperate enterprise drew near, Preble 
pointed out to the young commander the great danger of the affair, and 
the responsibility that rested upon him. Particularly was he enjoined not 
to permit the powder in the ketch to fall into the hands of the Tripolitans, 
who at that time were short of ammunition. One day, while talking with 
Somers, Preble burned a port-fire, or slow-match, and, noting its time, 
asked Somers if he thought the boats could get out of reach of the shells 
in the few minutes it was burning. 

" I think we can, sir," was the quiet response. 

Something in the speaker's tone aroused Preble's interest, and he 
said, — 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. 213 

" Would you like the port-fire shorter still ? " 

" I ask no port-fire at all," was the quiet reply. 

At last the day of the adventure was at hand. It was Sept. 4, the d.iy 
following the last attack upon Tripoli. The sky was overcast and lowerinir, 
and gave promise of a dark night. Fully convinced that the time for 
action was at hand, Somers called together the handful of brave fellows 
who were to follow him, and briefly addressed them. He told them he 
wished no man to go with him who did not prefer being blown up to 
being captured. For his part, he would much prefer such a fate, and he 
wished his followers to agree with him. For answer the brave fellows 
gave three cheers, and crowded round him, each asking to be selected 
to apply the match. Somers then passed among the officers and crew 
of the " Nautilus," shaking hands, and bidding each farewell. There 
were few dry eyes in the ship that afternoon ; for all lo -sd their young 
commander, and all knew how desperate was the enterprise in which he 
had embarked. 

It was after dusk when the devoted adventurers boarded the powdc 
laden ketch, as she lay tossing at her anchorage. Shortly after they had 
taken possession, a boat came alongside with Decatur and Lieut. Stewar. 
in the stern-sheets. The officers greeted their comrades with some 
emotion. They were all about of an age, followed one loved profession, 
and each had given proofs of his daring. When the time came for them 
to part, the leave-taking was serious, but tranquil. Somers took from 
his finger a ring, and breaking it into four pieces, gave one to each of his 
friends. Then with hearty handshakings, and good wishes for success, 
Decatur and Stewart left their friends. 

On the ketch was one man who had not been accepted as a volunteer. 
This was Lieut. Israel of the "Constitution," who had smuggled himself 
aboard. With this addition to his original force, Somers ordered sail made, 
and the "Intrepid" turned her prow in the direction of the Tripolitan 
batteries. 

As far as the harbor's mouth, she was accompanied by the " Argus," 
the "Vixen," and the "Nautilus." There they left her, and she pursued 
her way alone. It was a calm, foggy night. A few stars could be seen 
glimmering through the haze, and a light breeze ruffled the water, and 
wafted the sloop gently along her cours*;. From the three vessels that 
waited outside the harbor's mouth, eager watchers witii night-glasses kept 



2 14 BL^JE-JACKETS OF '76. 

their gaze riveted upon the spectral form of the ketch, as she slowly 
receded from their sight. Fainter and fainter grew the outline of her 
sails, until at last they were lost to sight altogether. Then fitful flashes 
from the enemy's batteries, and the harsh thunder of the cannon, told 
that she had been sighted by the foe. The an.xious watchers paced their 
decks with bated breath. Though no enemy was near to hear them, they 
spoke in whispers. The shadow of a great awe, the weight of some great 
calamity, seemed crushing them. 

" What was that ?" 

All started at the abrupt exclamation. Through the haze a glimmering 
light had been seen to move rapidly along the surface of the water, as 
though a lantern were being carried along a deck. Suddenly it disappeared, 
as though dropped down a hatchway. A few seconds passed, — seconds 
that seemed like hours. Then there shot up into the sky a dazzling jet 
of fire. A roar like that of a huge volcano shook earth and sea. The 
vessels trembled at their moorings. The concussion of the air threw men 
I'pon the decks. Then the mast of the ketch, with its sail blazing, was 
seen to rise straight into the air, and fall back. Bombs with burning 
fuses flew in every direction. The distant sound of heavy bodies falling 
into the water and on the rocks was heard. Then all was still. Even 
the Tripolitan batteries were silent. 

For a moment a great sorrow fell upon the Americans. Then came 
the thought that Somers and his brave men might have left the 
ketch before the explosion. All listened for approaching oars. Minutes 
lengthened into hours, and still no sound was heard. Men hung from 
the sides of the vessels, with their ears to the water, in the hopes of 
catching the sound of the coming boats. But all was in vain. Day broke ; 
the shattered wreck of the " Intrepid " could be seen within the harbor, 
and near it two injured Tripolitan gunboats. But of Somers and his 
brave followers no trace could be seen, nor were they ever again beheld 
by their companions. 

To Capt. Bainbridge in his prison-cell came a Tripolitan officer, several 
days later, asking him to go to a point of rocks, and view some bodies 
thrown there by the waves. Thither Bainbridge went, and was shown 
several bodies shockingly mutilated and burned. Though they were 
doubtless the remains of some of the gallant adventurers, they could 
not be identified. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '76. . 215 

The exact reason for this disaster can never be known. Many have 
thought that Somers saw capture inevitable, and with his own hand fired 
the fatal charge ; others believed the explosion to be purely accidental ; 
while the last and most plausible theory is, that a shot from the enemy's 
batteries penetrated the magazine, and ended the career of the " Intrepid " 
and her gallant crew. But however vexed the controversy over the cause 
of the explosion, there has been no denial of the gallantry of its victims. 
The names of all are honored in naval annals, while that of Somers 
became a battle-cry, and has been borne by some of the most dashing 
vessels of the United States navy. 

It may be said that this episode terminated the war with Tripoli. 
Thereafter it was but a series of blockades and diplomatic negotiations. 
Commodore Barron relieved Preble, and maintained the blockade, without 
any offensive operations, until peace was signed in June, 1805. The 
conditions of that peace cannot be too harshly criticised. By it the 
United States paid sixty thousand dollars for American prisoners in 
the hands of the Bashaw, thus yielding to demands for ransom which 
no civilized nation should for a moment have considered. The concession 
was all the more unnecessary, because a native force of insurrectionists, 
re-enforced by a few Americans, was marching upon Tripoli from the rear, 
and would have soon brought the Bashaw to terms. But it was not the 
part of the navy to negotiate the treaty. That rested with the civilians. 
The duty of the blue-jackets had been to fight for their country's honor ; 
and that they had discharged this duty well, no reader of these pages 
can deny. 




PART 11 
BLUE JACKETS OF 1812 




BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE GATHERING OF THE WAR-CLOUD. -THE REVOLUTION ENDED, BUT THE WAR FOR 
INDEPENDENCE YET UNFOUGHT. — OUTRAGES UPON AMERICAN SAILORS. — THE RIGHT 
OF SEARCH. — IMPRESSMENT. -BOYHOOD OF COMMODORE PORTER. — EARLY DAYS OF 
COMMODORES PERRY AND BARNEY. — BURNING A PRIVATEER. - THE EMBARGO. — 
WAR INEVITABLE. 




N a bright November afternoon in the year 1783, the streets 
of New York City, bordering on the bay, were crowded with 
excited people, pushing and elbowing each other rudely, and all 
pressing down to the water-side, where was collected a huge 
crowd, looking anxiously across the Droad waters of the noble bay, to a 
spot where lay anchored a large squadron of ships. The taut cordage, 

219 



220 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 

the trimly squared yards, and the rows of cannon protruding from the 
open ports made it evident to the veriest landsman that many of the ships 
were men-of-war ; while the scarlet flags crossed by the emblem of St. 
George, flaunting from the peak of every vessel, declared the allegiance of 
the fleet to the monarch of Great Britain, against whose rule the hardy 
Colonists had been for years waging a warfare, now to end in victory. 
Between the ships and the landing-place of old Fort George, that then 
stood where now extends the green sward of the Battery park, a fleet 
of long-boats was actively plying ; the long, swinging strokes of the 
blue-clad sailors stamping them as men-o'-war's men beyond doubt. The 
landing-place was thronged with troops, whose glistening muskets, scarlet 
coats, gold trimmings, and waving plumes contrasted beautifully with the 
bright blue jackets of the sailors, as file after file of the soldiers boarded 
the boats, and were rowed away to the waiting ships. The troops drawn 
up on the shore formed long lines of scarlet against the green back- 
ground of the bastions of Fort George. The men standing at rest talked 
ioudly to each other of the coming voyage, and now and again shouted 
'icrcely at some soberly clad citizen who strolled too near the warlike ranks ; 
for had not all the sturdy citizens of New York come down to see the 
hated British evacuate the city, forced out by the troops of Gen. Wash- 
ington (plain J/r. Washington, the British liked to call him) .' The ragged 
gamins scurried here and there, yelling ribald jests at the departing 
soldiers ; and the scarlet-coated troopers had hard work keeping down 
their rising anger, as suggestive cries of " boiled lobsters " rose on every 
side. Even the staid citizens could hardly conceal their exultation, as 
they thought that with those soldiers departed forever the rule of Great 
Britain over the Colonies. It was a quaint-looking crowd that had gathered 
that day, at the end of the little town. The sturdy mechanics and laborers, 
who were most numerous, were dressed in tight leather or yellow buck- 
skin breeches, checked shirts, and flaming red flannel jackets. Their heads 
were covered with rusty felt hats, cocked up at the sides into a triangular 
shape, and decorated with feathers or bright buckles. On their feet were 
heavy leathern shoes, fastened with huge brass buckles that covered the 
entire instep. Here and there in the crowd stood a prosperous merchant 
or man of fashion, whose garb, if less rough than that of his humbler 
fellow-citizen, was no less odd and picturesque. At first sight, an observer 
might think that all the men of New York were white-haired ; but a 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 



closer examination would show that the natural color of the hair was hid 
by dense layers of white powder. The hair was done up in a short cue 
tied by black ribbons, and on top of all rested a three-cornered cocked 
hat, heavily laced with gold or silver braid. The coat was light-colored, 
with a profusion of silver buttons, stamped with the wearer's monograir, 




decorating the front. Over the shoulders hung a short cape. The knee- 
breeches, marvellously tight, ended at the tops of gaudy striped stockings, 
which in turn disappeared in the recesses of pointed shoes adorned with 
gleaming buckles. The broad cuffs of the coat -sleeves were heavily lader 
with lead, to keep them in proper position. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



Such were the characteristics of the crowd that had assembled that 
day to witness the closing scene of British domination in America. Even 
as they stood there, they heard, faintly rising on the autumnal air, the 
sound of the fife and drum, as the American troops came marching down 
into the city, from their camp at the upper end of the island. And, as 
the last boat-load of grenadiers pushes off from the shore, the crowd, no 
longer restrained by the glittering bayonets, rushes down to the water's 
edge, and hurls taunts and gibes after the retreating boats, until the 
grizzled old soldiers curse the " Yankee rebels " fiercely, under their mus- 
taches, and beg the officers to give them a volley. 

Now the advance guard of the little American army, with fifes shrill- 
ing out the notes of "Yankee Doodle," comes marching down to the 
fort. No gay trappings, scarlet or gold lace about these soldiers, but 
ragged suits of homespun and homely flint-lock muskets, whose barrels 
are better burnished within than without. They march quickly to the 
water-front, and halt. The captain looks at the British squadron, now 
getting under way, and then, with true soldierly instinct, flashes a glance 
to the top of the flag-staff in the centre of the fort. His brow contracts, 
he stamps his foot, and the soldiers and citizens who have followed his 
glance break out into a cry of rage that rings far out over the placid waters 
of the bay, and makes the tough old British veterans chuckle grimly over 
the success of their little joke upon the Yankees ; for there, high above the 
heads of the wrathful crowd, flaunting its scarlet folds over the roofs of 
the liberated city, floats proudly the British Flag. 

"Tear it down!" The cry rises hoarsely from a thousand throats; 
and the Colonial officer springs with glittering sword to cut the halliards, 
but finds them cut away already, and the flag nailed to the mast. Then a 
trim sailor-boy works his way through the crowd, and, grasping the pole 
firmly, attempts to climb up, but soon slides down ingloriously over the 
greasy surface, freshly slushed by the British before their departure. The 
crowd yells in wrathful impotence ; and a few hot-headed youths spring 
forward, axe in hand, to bring down pole and all t~ the earth. But the 
firm hand of the commanding officer restrains them. He whispers a few 
words into their ears ; and they start briskly away, followed by a dozen or 
two of the steadily growing crowd. 

"Gen. Washington will be here soon," says the captain; "we must 
get that rag down at once." 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



223 



In a few minutes the messengers return. They have been to a neigh- 
boring hardware store, and startled the gray-haired old merchant so that 
he stared vaguely at them through his spectacles, as they fiercely demanded 
hammers, nails, and wooden cleats. Loaded with these, they dash back 




CUTTING AWAY THE FLAG. 

to the scene of action ; and again the sailor-boy becomes the hero of the 
moment. With his pockets filled with cleats, and his mouth stuffed with 
nails, he begins again his ascent of the slippery staff. lie nails cleat 
after cleat upon the pole, and step by step mounts toward the top. At 
last he reaches the flag ; and, with a few quick jerks, it is torn from the 



2 24 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

pole, and thrown contemptuously out into the air, to float down upon 
the crowd, and be torn to pieces by curiosity seekers. Then the lialliards 
are lowered, and soon the flag of the young and struggling nation floats 
in the cool breeze ; while from the neighboring heights the cannon of 
the forts speak in deep-mouthed salvos of applause, that mingle with the 
rejoicings of the people, and do not cease until the ships of the enemy 
have passed through the Narrows, and are out of sight and hearing. The 
British had evacuated New York, and America had won her independence. 

Not many years, however, had passed after this memorable event, when 
the citizens not only of New York, but the people of all the United 
States, began to find out that America had not won her true indepen- 
dence, but merely a slight relief from the oppressions of Great Britain. 
Already the nations of Europe were beginning to encroach upon the rights 
and liberties of the infant nation. For this the States were themselves 
greatly to blame. Nobly as they had fought in unison to throw off the 
yoke of Great Britain, they fell into strife among themselves as soon as 
the war was at an end, and by their quarrels and bickerings led all the 
European nations to believe that the contentious Colonies, like the Kil- 
kenny cats, would end by destroying each other. Such a nation could 
command little respect, and the stronger powers were not slow to show 
their contempt for the United States. American vessels, coming back to 
port, would report that a British ship-of-war had halted them in mid-ocean, 
and seized American sailors as suspected British deserters. Other Ameri 
can ships, sailing full of hope from American ports, would never re-appear, 
and their fate would be a mystery, until, after many months, some sailor 
wandering home told of his ship's capture by a French privateer or Tri- 
politan war vessel. For years a debasing tribute was paid to the Bashaw of 
Tripoli, upon condition of his granting to American ships the privileges 
of the sea, that are the undoubted rights of every nation ; yet even this 
compact was more often ignored than observed. Small wonder was it 
that the sage old statesman, Benjamin Franklin, on hearing a young man 
speak of the " glorious war for independence," responded gravely, " Say 
rather the war of the revolution : the war for independence is yet to be 
fought." 

In the year 1789, the States, after much debate and bickering, finally 
ratified the document known as the Constitution of the United States, 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 225 

While the work of the American Revolution was thus being completed, 
and a new nation was being formed, events were transpiring on the other 
side of the Atlantic that were destined to affect gravely the growth of the 
new nation. The oppressed peasantry and laborers of France, smarting 
under the wrongs of centuries, rose in a mighty wave, and swept away 
the nobles, their masters. The royal head of King Louis fell a prey to the 
remorseless spirit of the guillotine, and the reign of terror in Paris began. 
Soon the roll of the drum was heard in every European city, and the 
armies of every nation were on the march for France. England was 
foremost in the fray ; and the people of the United States, seeing their 
old enemy at war with the country of Lafayette, fired by generous enthu- 
siasm, were ready to rush to the aid of their old ally. But the wise 
prudence of their rulers restrained them ; and for the next twenty years 
the United States were neutrals, while all the nations of Europe were 
plunged in war. 

The first effect of this condition of affairs was most beneficial. A? 
neutrals, the ships of the United States could trade with all the battling 
peoples ; while any vessel flying a European flag was sure to find an 
enemy somewhere on the broad seas, and suffer confiscation. While 
France was giving her farmers and mechanics to follow in the glorious 
footsteps of Napoleon, the industrious citizens of the United States were 
reaping a rich reward in trade with the warring nation. The farmers 
received the highest prices for their grain, the ingenious mechanics of 
New England reaped fortunes from the sale of their wares, and the ship- 
yards were filled to their greatest capacity with the graceful frames of 
fast clipper vessels destined for the trade with Europe. In 1780 the 
shipping of the United States was confined to a few coasting-vessels, and 
the American flag was seldom seen beyond the Atlantic. Fifteen years 
Inter, the white sails of American ships dotted every sea, and but few 
liuropcan ports did not show some trim clipper floating in the harbor, 
bearing at her peak the stars and stripes. 

From Maine to Georgia the people were building ships, and manning 
them. The vast forests resounded with the strokes of the woodman's axe, 
getting out the timber ; and the seaport towns were given over to ship- 
wrights, who worked day and night at their craft. In New England there 
sprung up a race of hardy seamen. Boys of twelve or fourteen ran away 



226 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

to sea, made a coasting voyage or two, and, after a voyage to some 
European port, became captains of ocean-going ships, — often before they 
were twenty years of age. The people of the coastwise towns of New 
England can tell of hundreds of such cases. There was " Nat " Palmer 
of Stonington, who shipped when a boy of fourteen, and, after four years' 
coasting, was made second mate of the brig " Herselias," bound around 
Cape Horn, for seals. On his first voyage the young mate distinguished 
himself by discovering the South Shetland Islands, guided by the vague 
hints of a rival sealer, who knew of the islands, and wished them preserved 
for his own trade, as the seals swarm there by the hundred thousands. 
The discovery of these islands, and the cargo of ten thousand skins brought 
home by the " Herselias," made young Palmer famous ; and, at the age 
of twenty, he was put in command of a sloop, and sent to the South Seas 
again. One day he found his passage in the desired direction blocked by 
two long islands, with a narrow opening between them. To go around 
the islands would have been a long voyage ; and the young captain headed 
his craft for the opening, but soon found himself on the rocks. Luckily, 
the vessel backed off, and the crew set about repairing damages. While 
thus engaged, the great, blunt head of a whale was seen in the narrow 
channel ; and, after blowing a column of water high in the air, the monster 
swam lazily through the strait. " If a whale can go through that channel, 
I can," quoth " Cap'n Nat." And he forthwith did so. Quick of observa- 
tion, and prompt of action, the sailors of the United States became the 
foremost seamen of the world, and guided their little vessels over every 
known sea. 

But the growing commerce of the United States was destined to meet 
a series of checks, that seemed for a time likely to destroy it forever. 
England, jealous of the encroachments of the Americans upon the broad 
seas of which she had long called herself the mistress, began a series of 
outrages upon American ships, and, not content with acting in open 
hostility, incited the piratical rulers of Tripoli and Algiers to make war 
upon American shipping. In this volume it is not my purpose to tell of 
the means adopted by England to let the swarming ships of the Barbary 
pirates out of the Mediterranean Sea, to prey upon the vessels of the 
United States ; nor do I intend to tell how, after peaceful arguments had 
been exhausted, Decatur and Preble, with a fleet of American vessels and 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 227 

a handful of fighting jack-tars, crossed the ocean, and thrashed the pirates 
of the Mediterranean into subjection. That may well be left for future 
consideration, and this chapter devoted to a history of the acts of inso- 
lence and oppression on the part of England, that finally forced the 
United States to declare war against a power so vastly superior to them 
in wealth, population, and military and naval strength. 

The first great and crying outrage, protested against by the statesmen, 
the newspapers, and the people of the United States, was the so-called 
right of search. By this was meant the right claimed by every British 
man-of-war to stop an American vessel on the high seas, muster her crew 
on the forecastle, and seize and carry away any sailor thought to be a 
native of Great Britain. This outrageous act was committed time and 
time again by the commanders of British frigates, who knew no easier 
way of filling up a short-handed crew than by stopping some passing vessel 
flying the stars and stripes, and taking from her the best-looking sailors 
of her crew. Hardly a week passed without the arrival of a ship at New 
York, New London, or any of the shipping towns of New England, 
bringing some such tale. The merchant-vessel, skimming lightly over 
the ocean, at peace with all the world, and with nothing to fear save the 
terrors of the storms, against which the sturdy mariners knew so well 
how to guard, would be suddenly halted by a shot from a frigate of a 
nation with whom the United States had no quarrel. A hail from the 
frigate told the American to come up into the wind, while a boat was 
sent aboard. Soon a long-boat filled with man-o'-war's men, and with a 
beardless young midshipman in the stern-sheets, came dancing over the 
water; and in a minute or two a lieutenant, the middy, and a few sailors 
clambered aboard the wondering merchantman. There was small ceremony 
about the proceedings then. 

"Muster your men aft," quoth the middy peremptorily; "and you'd 
better be quick about it, too." 

Perhaps the American captain protested, — they generally did, — and 
talked about the peace between the nations, and the protection of his 
flag ; but his talk was usually of little avail. 

" Get those man aft, and be quick about it," orders the British officer. 
"You've got deserters from his Majesty's service in your crew; and I'll 
have them. Do you want me to send the boat back for the marines ? " 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812, 



The American crew came aft unwillingly, grumbling, and cursing his 
Majesty's service under their breath, and formed a line before the boarding 
officer. That worthy whispered a minute or two with the boatswain and 
sailors who came aboard with him, and then, pointing out one man, boldly 
claimed him as a British subject. American captains declared that the 
man so chosen was generally the most ship-shape sailor aboard ; and 
indeed it seemed but natural that the English, in filling out their crew, 
should choose the best. Sometimes the American captain went on boarc 
the British ship, to protest against so summary a draft upon his crew. 
In such a case he was usually received with courtesy by the commander, 
but never did he regain his kidnapped sailors. The commander trusted 
in every thing to his first lieutenant, who boarded the merchantman ; and 
that officer was thus made, in the words of an English journalist, "at 
once accuser, witness, judge, and captor." 

The men thus pressed were expected to serve with all the zeal ancj 
bravery of regularly enlisted sailors. The slightest sign of hesitation or 
unwillingness was met with blows. A pressed man who refused to serve 
was triced up, and lashed with the cat-o'-nine tails until his back was cut 
to ribbons, and the blood spurted at every blow. Few cared to endure 
such punishment twice. Yet the sailors taken from the American ships 
lost no opportunity for showing their desire to get out of the service into 
which they had been kidnapped. Desertions from ships lying near the 
coast were of weekly occurrence, although recaptured deserters were hanged 
summarily at the yard-arm. Sailors who found no chance to desert made 
piteous appeals to the American consuls in the ports at which they 
stopped, or wrote letters to their friends at home, begging that something 
should be done to release them from their enforced service. It was not 
the severity of man-o'-war discipline that so troubled the poor fellows : 
many of them were old man-o'-war's men, and all would have been glad 
of berths in the United States navy ; but the sight of the red flag of 
Great Britain waving above their heads, and the thought that they were 
serving a nation with which their country had just fought a bloody war, 
were intolerable. 

One "pressed man," on a British ship lying in the West Indies, man 
aged to write the following letter to a newspaper editor in New York, 
and, after much planning, succeeded in mailing it. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 229 

Port Royal, Jamaica, June 30, iSii. 

Mr. Snowden, — I hope you will be so good as to publish these few lines. I, 
Edwin Bouldin, was impressed out of the barque " Columbus " of Elizabeth City, 
and was carried on board his Britannic Majesty's brig " Rhodian," in Montego Bay, 
commanded by Capt. Mowbary- He told me my protection was of no consequence, 
and he would have me whether or not. I was born in Baltimore, and served my 
time with Messrs. Smith & Buchanan. I hope my friends will do something for 
me to get my clearance ; for I do not like to serve any other country but my own, 
rt'hich I am willing to serve. I am now captain of the forecastle, and stationed 
captain of a gun in the waist. I am treated very ill, because I will not enter. 
They request of me to go on board my country's ships to list men, which I 
refused to do, and was threatened to be punished for it. 

I remain a true citizen of the United States 

EDWIN BOULDIN. 

Pathetic letters such as this appear often in the columns of the news- 
papers published in the early part of this century, and are usually accom- 
panied by petitions from the relatives and friends of the pressed man, 
begging that Congress take some action to secure American sailors from 
such outrages. But year after year the practice went on, and higher and 
higher grew the enmity between England and the United States. Among 
the sailors who suffered impressment at the hands of the British were 
many who afterward in the naval battles of the ensuing war won ample 
revenge from the nation that had so abused their liberties. 

Most prominent of all these men was David Porter, who, from the 
humble station of a cabin boy on his father's ship in 1796, rose in twenty 
years to be commodore in the United States navy. The name of Porter 
is one famous in the naval annals of the United States ; and probably 
there never e.visted a family in which the love for the life of a fighting 
jack-tar was so strong as among these representative American sailors. 
David Porter, sen., and Samuel Porter served the American Colonies 
dashingly upon the sea in the Revolution. Of David Porter, jun., we 
shall have much to say in this volume. Of his children the eldest, William 
D., rose to the post of commodore, United States navy, and died of wounds 
received in the civil war; Henry O. Porter was first lieutenant of the 
" Hatteras " when she sunk before the fire of the Confederate ship " Ala- 
bama;" Thomas Porter served in the Mexican navy; Hamblcton Porter 



BLUE-JACKETS OF iSiz. 



died of yellow-fever while a midshipman in the United States navy ; 
Lieut. Theodoric Porter, U.S.A., was the first officer killed in the Mexi- 
can war; and Admiral David D. Porter, U.S.N., by virtue of his exploits 
on blue water and in the ditches and bayous back of Vicksburg during 
the civil war, now stands at the head of living naval officers. 

But to return to David Porter. He was sixteen years old, when, in 
1796, his father, having obtained command of a vessel in the West India 
trade, determined to take the lad to sea, that he might learn the profes- 
sion of his ancestors. It was hardly a favorable time to inspire an inde- 
pendent boy with admiration for the life of an American merchant sailor. 
The United States had no navy to protect its merchant ships ; and the 
British cruisers that scoured the ocean felt little hesitation about boarding 
the ships of the infant nation, and kidnapping such sailors as they might 
desire. Of this young Porter soon had evidence. While his ship, the 
"Eliza," was lying in the port of Jeremie in San Domingo, a British 
frigate came into the harbor, and dropped anchor near by. One morning 
the lookout on the "Eliza" saw a boat, manned by armed men, put off 
from the frigate, and steer for the American merchantman. The move- 
ment was quickly reported to Capt. Porter, who was too old a seaman 
not to know what it portended, and too plucky an American to submit 
willingly to any indignity. His preparations were quickly made ; and by 
the time the frigate's boat came alongside, the crew of the "Eliza" were 
armed and ready to rush to the deck at the first alarm. Capt. Porter 
with his officers and son stood on the quarterdeck, and awaited with great 
dignity the arrival of the boat. Soon the British came alongside ; and an 
officer in the stern-sheets announced that he was about to board the 
" Eliza," and demanded to search the vessels for deserters from the British 
service. 

Capt. Porter replied that his was an American ship, and the British 
might board at their peril ; for he was armed, and would resist the boarders 
to the last extremity. A great laugh went up from the boat alongside. 
A Yankee merchantman to resist British sailors, indeed ! And the officer, 
without more ado, ordered his men to board. Hardly had the order passed 
his lips, than Porter's clear voice rang out, "Repel boarders!" and the 
crew of the "P^liza," armed with pikes and muskets, rushed upon their 
assailants, and drove them into the sea. Young Porter was not behind- 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 23 1 

hand in the fight, but lent his boyish aid to the vindication of American 
sailors' rights. One man was shot down by his side ; and Porter received 
his first baptism of blood in this encounter, which thus early rooted in his 
mind a detestation for the arrogance of the British, and a determination 
to devote his life to the cause of his seafaring countrymen. 

On his second voyage, a year later, young Porter was destined to 
experience still further the hardships and ignominy which American 
sailors only too often encountered at the hands of the British. Once 
again the boy, now a first officer, was walking the deck of his vessel in 
a San Domingo port, when a boat's-crevv from a British frigate came on 
board on the usual errand of impressment. This time the sturdy, inde- 
pendent spirit of the elder Porter was absent ; and the captain of the 
American vessel basely permitted a portion of his crew, among whom 
was Porter, to be carried aboard the frigate, where they were to be kept 
until they agreed to enlist. Loaded with irons, they were thrust into "the 
brig," or guard-room of the frigate ; but, though the case seemed hope- 
less. Porter gallantly refused to enter the king's service, and ceaselessly 
e.xhorted his comrades to stand firm against the commands of the British. 
Days passed, and still the frigate's crew was in no wise increased from 
among the obstinate Americans. The British captain lost patience, and 
commanded that all the prisoners be brought out on deck, triced up, and 
publicly flogged with the cat-of-nine tails, for " the bad example they set 
the crew of his Majesty's ship." The order was duly put into execution. 
The prisoners, still ironed, were brought up under a heavy guard, and 
taken to the gratings ; but when young Porter reached the deck, and saw 
the ignominious punishment in store for him, he fought desperately with 
his guards, and, finally breaking away, ran below, and hid in some corner 
of the hold, from which the most careful search failed to dislodge him. 
The captain finally gave orders to leave him alone, saying, "He'll come 
out fast enough when he gets hungry." But the lad did not wait for 
hunger to drive him from his hiding-place. That very night he came 
from the hold, crawled stealthily across the deck, and dropped into the 
water, regardless of the sharks that abound in those tropic seas. A short 
swim took him to a Danish vessel, by which he was carried across the 
Atlantic. Only after many months of voyaging as a common sailor did 
the lad succeed in working his way back to his home. 



232 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



Even this experience could not deter the young seaman from again 
seeking employment upon the billowy main, and for the third time he 
shipped upon an American merchantman. Again his course lay toward 
the West Indies, and again he was intercepted by the inevitable man-of- 
war. This time he was not so fortunate as to escape until after a month 
or more of captivity, during which time he was treated with the greatest 
cruelty or- account of his persistent refusal to serve under any flag save 
that of his own country. At last he made his escape, and reached home. 
By this time he was naturally somewhat disgusted with the life of a 
sailor on an American merchant-vessel ; and he cast about for an appoint- 
ment to the navy, which he soon received. It is impossible to doubt 
that his three adventures with the British press-gang had much to do 
with the ardor and bravery with which in later days the young sailor, 
then elevated to the highest ranks, did battle with the enemies of his 
country. When, at the close of the War of 18 12, the veteran naval 
oPRcer looked back upon his record during that conflict, he could point 
fo one captured British man-of-war and scores of captured British mer- 
chantmen as the measure of his retaliation for the wrongs done him as a 
defenceless American sailor-boy. 

Oliver Hazard Perry, of whose famous victory over the British on Lake 
Erie we shall speak later, also was brought into conflict with the British 
in the days of the "right of searck." His father, Christopher Raymond 
Perry, in command of the United States ship " Gen. Greene," was escorting 
an American brig freighted with a valuable cargo. Near Gibraltar they 
were sighted by a British man-of-war, which bore down quickly upon the 
two ships. Perry was an old and cautious naval officer ; and, though peace 
reigned between his country and Great Britain, he no sooner saw an armed 
vessel approaching, than he put his vessel in trim for action, and sent the 
crew to the guns. Nearer and nearer came the great P^nglish man-o'-war ; 
and, as she came within range, a puff of smoke burst from her bow-port, and 
a ball skipped along the water before Perry's unarmed convoy, conveying a 
forcible invitation to heave to. Perry at once made signal to his convoy to 
pay no regard to the Englishman ; and, setting the American flag, the two 
ships continued on their way. But at this moment the breeze died away, 
and all three ships lay becalmed within easy range of each other. The 
British captain was not slow to take advantage of this ; and a boat soon 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1 812. 233 



put off from his ship, and made for the American brig. This move Perry 
promptly checked by a shot from the " Gen. Greene," which so narrowly 
missed the boat that the crew thought it well to run alongside the 
American man-o'-war, and arrange the matter peaceably. As the boat 
came alongside the "Gen. Greene," the gangway was manned, and the 
British officer escorted with the greatest formality to Perry's presence. 

He at once stated his purpose in attempting to board the merchant- 
man ; claiming that, by virtue of the right of search, he was entitled 
to visit the brig, and examine into the nationality of her crew. 

"I deny the existence of any right, on the part of British vessels, to 
search any American vessel, except with the consent of the American 
commander," responded Perry; "and my shot was intended to warn you 
that you had received no such permission." 

By this time the British vessel had come within hailing distance of 
the " Gen. Greene ; " and the captain demanded why his boat had been 
fired upon, and was now detained. Perry responded in the same words 
with which he had answered the boarding-officer. 

" It's a most surprising thing," shouted the Englishman, losing his 
temper, " if a British seventy-four-gun ship cannot search a pitiful little 
Yankee merchantman." 

" By Heaven ! " responded Perry. " If you were a ship of the first rate, 
you should not do it, to the dishonor of my flag." And in an instant the 
ports of the "Gen. Greene" were triced up, and the British captain saw 
that his adversary was prepared for battle. After a moment's thought, 
lie abandoned all attempts at violence, and sent a courteous letter to 
Perry, begging leave to visit the brig in search of British deserters, which 
request Perry as courteously granted. 

To this list of American seamen who suffered indignities at the hands 
of the British, and afterwards won reparation from their enemies in the 
War of 1812, maybe added the name of Joshua Barney. Few Americans 
have given to their country a longer service or more efficient aid than 
he. In the little Colonial navy of the Revolution, he held high rank, 
and won the plaudits of older sailors. At the close of the Revolution, he 
served for a time in the merchant-marine ; then entered the naval service 
of France, and, at the first news of war between England and America, 
returned to his country, to enlist under the stars and stripes. It was 



234 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

while he was in command of a merchantman that he was brought into 
collision with the British in a way that well might make the doughty old 
sea-dog doubt if the Revolutionary days, when he suffered in the noisome 
confines of Mill Prison, had not come again. 

It was in the summer of 1793, that the good ship "Sampson," two 
days out from Cape Francois, West Indies, was slowly making her way 
northward, over the tropic seas, and under the glaring rays of the summer 
sun of the torrid zone. Capt. Barney and his crew were ever on the 
watch for danger ; for, in addition to the hurricanes and typhoons common 
to the equatorial latitudes, much was to be feared from the lawless British 
privateers that then swarmed in the West Indies and Bermudas. That 
the "Sampson" was under the flag of a neutral power, was but little 
protection ; for the commanders of the semi-piratical craft cared little for 
international law or for justice. War was raging between France and 
England ; and a mere suspicion of traffic with French colonies was enough, 
in the eyes of these worthies, to condemn a vessel of any nationality. 

Knowing his danger, Capt. Barney strove to avoid the localities fre- 
quented by the privateers, but to no avail One bright morning, thr 
lookout reported three sail in sight from the masthead, and in a few hours 
Barney found himself hemmed in by privateers. Three ofificers boarded 
him, and began a rigid examination of the cargo and papers. Two finally 
expressed themselves as satisfied of the neutral character of the vessel ; 
but the third exclaimed that he had discovered in the cabin an iron chest, 
full of money, which surely proved that the " Sampson " had something 
to do with the French, for "no blasted Yankee ever had iron chests or 
dollars on board his vessel ! " Such conclusive proof as this could not 
be overlooked by the sapient privateers ; and, after a little consultation, 
they informed Capt. Barney that they would let the ship go, if the money 
were given to them. As it amounted to eighteen thousand dollars, Capt. 
Barney looked upon this demand as nothing short of robbery, and indig- 
nantly refused to consider it ; whereupon his captors took from the 
" Sampson " all her crew except the carpenter, boatswain, and cook, sent 
a prize-crew aboard, and ordered that she be taken to New Providence, a 
British naval station. The privateers were soon hull down on the horizon ; 
and Barney found himself a prisoner on his own ship, e.xi^osed to ceaseless 
insolence from the British prize-master. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 235 



Several days passed, as the "Sampson" lay becalmed in the tropics. 
Barney, though too old a sailor to be cast down by misfortune, never 
theless chafed under his situation. From prize-master and prize-crew he 
received nothing but scurrilous epithets ; and the oft -repeated murmurs of 
"Rebel rascal!" "Yankee traitor!" "Blow out his brains!" and "Throw 
him overboard!" made it hard for him to believe the Revolution over, 
and the United Staics and England at peace. Even while they thus 
abused the captain, the rogues were feasting upon his provisions and 
drinking his wines ; and only his firm refusal to give up his keys pre- 
vented their rifling his iron chest, and filling their pockets with his dollars. 
At last he began to feel that his life was no longer safe in the hands of 
his captors ; and, though he had by him but three men of his original 
crew, he determined to attempt to recapture the ship. 

One evening the captain managed to catch a few minutes' conversation 
with the carpenter and boatswain of his own crew, and broached to them 
the project for a recapture. No argument was needed to induce these 
bold men to embark in the perilous enteiprise. Indeed, from the very 
moment of the capture, they must have cherished some such purpose ; 
for each had hidden away in his bunk a gun and bayonet. Barney, on 
his part, had secreted a small brass blunderbuss and a broad-sword ; and 
with this meagre armament the three determined to take the ship from 
its captors. 

The success of the project then depended upon a favorable opportu- 
nity, and the three conspirators watched eagerly for the decisive moment 
to arrive. At last there came a day so squally that all the prize-crew 
were kept busy with the sails all the morning. Much exhausted, the 
sailors .sat down to tlicir dinner on the forecastle at noon, while the 
three British ofificers spread their mess amidships. Barney saw that 
the moment had arrived ; and, giving the signal to his men, the plotters 
went below for their weapons. Barney was the first to re-appear, — the 
blunderbuss, loaded and cocked, in his hand, and the naked cutlass under 
his arm. Hardly had he stepped on deck when one of the officers saw 
him, and, throwing down dishes and dinner, sprang at the American and 
grappled with him. Barney struggled violently, and soon managing to 
get the blunderbuss against his enemy's shoulder, fired it, filling the 
wretch's arm and side with buckshot. Freed from his adversary, the 



236 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 

gallant captain cut down with a blow of his cutlass the second prize 
officer, who was advancing upon him ; and the third, seeing his two com- 
panions lying, drenched with blood, upon the deck, ran below. In the 
mean time the crew, startled from their dinner by the report of the blun- 
derbuss, had rushed below for their weapons ; but the last man had hardly 
dived down the hatchway when the wily carpenter and boatswain rushed 
forward, clapped on the hatches, and in a trice had the British sailors 
nicely cooped up in the forecastle. The two wounded officers were quickly 
cared for, and the unhurt fugitive secured ; and Barney found himself 
again in control of the ship. 

The victors then held a consultation as to their future action. They 
controlled the ship, it was true ; but what were three men to do with a 
full-rigged ship on the stormy Atlantic .' Clearly they must get aid from 
their captives, or all might go to the bottom together. Accordingly the 
three, with loaded weapons, went forward, and standing at the hatchway, 
proposed terms to the imprisoned sailors below. Capt. Barney acted as 
spokesman. 

"You shall be released from confinement," cried he to the captives, 
"and may now come on deck one at a time, each one bringing his 
weapons with him." 

The hatches were then thrown back, and the carpenter and boat- 
swain stood with cutlasses and muskets ready to cut down the first who 
should make an offensive movement. The British saw the preparations 
for their reception, and came up one at a time as ordered. As each 
came up, his arms were seized and thrown overboard, and a gruff order 
given for him to go forward. Before long the crew, deprived of all means 
of resistance, were gathered on the forecastle. Barney then retired to 
the quarter-deck, and ordered that the crew be mustered before him. 

"You are now my prisoners," said he; "and I have not only the 
power, but the right, to hang every man jack of you. You seized this 
vessel without any just cause, and simply because you were the stronger; 
and you have further used that strength to abuse and ill-treat me and 
waste my property. I do not propose to execute you, but will give you 
the choice of two alternatives. You may either stay with me and work 
this ship to Baltimore, there to be discharged with wages ; or I wih give 
you a small boat with provisions, and set you adrift to shift for your- 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



^37 



selves. One condition I attach to the first alternative. If one of you is 
seen talking with his former officers, or if one man steps abaft the main- 
mast, he shall be instantly shot." 

The crew wasted no time in deliberation, but decided to stay with 
the ship, and at once went forward on duty. Then began a fortnight 




& Trnmr3 



BARNEY REGAINS HIS SHIP. 



of ceaseless watchfulness and grave an.xicty for Capt. Barney. At night 
he never closed his eyes, but took his sleep by day in an armchair on 
deck, his blunderbuss and cutlass by his side, and a sentinel ready to 
awaken him at the slightest alarm. At last, however, he brought his 
ship safely to Baltimore, and discharged his crew. But the memory of 



23S BLUE-JACKETS OF 181 2. 

that month of violence remained with him ; and wc sliall hear of him 
again as a brave sailor in the service of the United States, and an uncom- 
promising foe to England. 

Among the most adventurous of American merchant seamen in the 
days following the Revolution was Capt. Thomas Macdonough. Like 
others of his class, his daring and ability as a navigator gained him 3 
commission in the very small American navy of that time. On one 
occasion the United States ship " Siren," of which he was first lieu- 
tenant, was lying at anchor in the harbor of Gibraltar, surrounded by a 
number of merchantmen, from the peak of one of which floated the stars 
and stripes. While pacing the deck one bright afternoon, Macdonough 
observed a boat manned with armed men put off from a British man- 
of-war that rode at anchor a mile away. At once his suspicions were 
aroused, and with a strong glass he watched the movements of the Brit- 
ish. As he had expected, the boat steered straight for the American 
merchantman ; and through his glass Macdonough could see the boarders 
scramble over the bulwarks of the vessel, and soon thereafter return to 
their boat, taking with them a man dressed in the garb of a merchant 
seaman, and tightly bound. 

The captain of the " Siren " was on shore ; and Macdonough, as the 
officer in command, determined that so audacious an impressment should 
not succeed under the guns of an American war-vessel, small though she 
might be. 

" Clear away the long-boat," he shouted ; and the boat quickly was 
lowered to the water, and a dozen jackics grasped the oars. Macdonough 
sprung into the stern-sheets, and grasped the tiller. 

" Let fall ! Give way ! Pull hard, men ! " He gave the orders in 
quick succession, and laid his course straight for the British boat, which 
was soon overtaken He laid his boat alongside the British cutter, and 
demanded that the captive be given up. The English officer began to 
protest, but Macdonough cut his protests short. 

"You have no right to that man. He is an American sailor. — Tumble 
in here, my man." 

The pressed man, delighted with the prospect of rescue, sprang into 
the American boat ; and before the British officer had recovered from his 
amazement sufficiently to offer resistance, the blue-jackets were pulling 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. ^3^ 



away toward the " Siren," with the long, swinging, man-o'-war stroke. 
When he reached his vessel, Macdonough retired to his cabin to await 
further developments, which were not long in appearing. 

" Boat from the British frigate heading for the ship, sir," reported the 
officer of the deck, in a few minutes. 

"Very good, sir. Have the gangway manned," returned the lieutenant. 

The boat was soon alongside ; and the British captain, white with 
rage, leaped to the gangway, and was shown to Lieut. Macdonough's 
cabin. 

"How dare you take a man from a boat of his Majesty's ship, sir.'" 
was his salutation. 

" ' Dare ' is not a word to be spoken to an officer of the United States 
navy," responded Macdonough. "As for the man, he is a citizen of the 
United States; and I propose to protect him, at all hazards." 

"I'll bring my frigate alongside, and sink your beggarly litde craft" 
shouted the visitor, with a volley of oaths. 

"That you may do," responded the American; "but while she swims 
the man you shall not have." 

"You are a hair-brained young fellow, and will repent this rashness," 
cried the irate Briton. " Do you mean to say, that, if I had been in that 
boat, you would have dared to commit such an act ? " 

" I should have made the attempt, sir, at all hazards." 

" What, sir ! " shouted the captain, greatly enraged, " would you venture 
to interfere, if I should now impress men from that brig .' " 

"You have but to try it, sir," was the pithy response. And the British 
captain returned to his frigate, vowing all sorts of vengeance, but never- 
theless did not again annoy the American ship. 

While the popular clamor against the hateful right of search was still 
at its height in America, Great Britain unwisely added yet another out- 
rage to the already long list of grievances complained of by the Americans. 
Notwithstanding the danger of Barbary pirates and British impressment, 
the merchants of the United States were carrying on a thriving trade 
with France. England, then at war with the great Napoleon, looked upon 
this commerce at first with disfavor, and finally with such intense hatred 
that she determined to put an end to it altogether. Accordingly, she 
issued the celebrated " Orders in Council," forbidding all traffic with 



240 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

French ports. For such action the imperious nation had no authority by 
any principle of international law. Her blockade of the French ports was 
•very imperfect, and easily evaded. It is a perfectly well-established prin- 
ciple of the common law of nations that a blockade, to be legal, must 
be complete and effective ; otherwise, it is known as a " paper blockade," 
and neutral vessels are justified in attempting to evade it. Instead of 
posting blockading vessels at the entrances of French ports, to warn off 
all vessels, Great Britain contented herself with licensing hordes of pri- 
vateers, that roamed the seas and snapped up vessels with little regard 
to law or justice. Hundreds of American vessels were thus captured ; 
for our trade with France and the French West Indian colonies at that 
time was of vast proportions. The ocean soon became so infested with 
privateers that every American merchantman carried cannon, and an array 
of small-arms that would have done credit to a sloop-of-war. The New 
England sailors became able naval fighters, as well as e.xperienced seamen ; 
for a man shipping for a voyage knew well that, in addition to battling 
with the angry elements, he might be required to sight truly the great 
"long Tom," or beat back piratical boarders at the muzzle of the muskets. 
But even these heroic remedies could not save many a good ship. 

Occurrences such as these fanned into flaming fury the smouldering 
fires of the American hatred for Great Britain. The people saw their 
old oppressor and enemy engaged in war with their old ally France, and 
the popular cry went up for a union of France and the United States 
against England. Happily, the statesmen of the time — Washington, 
Hamilton, and Jay — were too firm of purpose, and too clear-sighted, to 
be led away by popular clamor ; and they wisely kept the United States 
Government in a position of neutrality between the two nations. Deep 
and loud were the murmurs of the people at this action. Could true- 
hearted Americans desert their friends in such a manner ? Never ! And 
so, whatever might be the policy of the rulers, the many-headed people 
welcomed French ambassadors, feted the officers of visiting men-of-war, 
and hung the tri-color and the stars and stripes side by side on all public 
holidays. 

It was in 1795, while the popular affection for France was at its 
height, that a merchant-vessel flying the British flag sailed into Boston 
Harbor, and made fast to the Long Wharf. Under her stern appeared 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



241 



the legend, " The Betsy of St. Croix ; " her decks were littered with poultry 
and domestic animals, her cordage flapped loosely in the breeze, and every 
thing about her bespoke the merchant-vessel. Her captain, being hailed 
by the dock-loafers, and made the victim of the proverbial Yankee 
inquisitiveness, stated that he had just come from the West Indies with 
a load of lignum-vitse, pineapples, and hides, which he hoped to sell in 
Boston. The self-constituted investigating committee seemed satisfied, 
and the captain strolled on into the city. 

But the French consul at Boston was far from satisfied, and he took 
care to let his suspicions become generally known. " That innocent- 
looking merchantman is a British privateer," quoth he; "and it's a shame 
to harbor her in the good port of Boston, amid French-loving people." 
The consul's words spread like wildfire ; and his suspicions soon passed 
for facts, without any supporting proof. No one knows who was the writer, 
or who the printer ; but in a few hours the people upon the streets had 
thrust into their hands the following handbill : — 



THIS NIGHT 

Will be performed at the steps bottom of 
Long Wharf 

A COM EDY 

of stripping the 
BERMUDIAN PRIVATEER. 



CITIZENS. Remember there have been 
near three hundred of our American vessels 
taken by these Bermudians, and have received 
the most barbarous treatment from those 
Damn'd PIRATESI!! 

Now, Americans, if you feel the spirit of 
resentment or revenge kindling in your hearts, 
let us be united in the cause. 



This was enough to rouse the turbulent people of Boston to action. 
They well remembered the winter's night, twenty-two years before, when 
their harbor was the scene of the first protest against the oppression of 



242 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



Great Britain. Then they threw overboard the tea, and spared the ships ; 
this time ship and cargo alike should be destroyed. When night fell, 
small bodies of men could be seen marching down to the wharfs, through 
the narrow, crooked streets of the old town. Before eight o'clock Long 
Wharf was crowded with an angry mob. On the deck of the threatened 
vessel stood the captain, arguing and pleading with the crowd, and at 
times pointing to the scarlet flag above his head, and threatening his 
assailants with the wrath of mighty England. Argument, entreaty, and 
threats proved unavailing ; and the crowd, gaining courage with numbers, 
rushed upon the vessel, and ordered captain and crew ashore. Leaving 
the scene, the captain rushed wildly into the city in search of the British 
consul ; and, in his absence, the mob began to search his ship. An active 
and careful search soon brought to light in an out-of-the-way corner of 
the hold two swivel-guns, two three-pounders, forty charges of shot, 
fifteen pounds of powder, and eight muskets. All was piled upon the 
deck, and pointed out to the captain on his return, amid frantic yells 
from the enraged populace. He solemnly protested that the ordnance 
was only intended for purposes of defence against the pirates that in- 
fested the Bermudas. But the case was already judged. The people 
laughed at the captain's declarations ; and in a few minutes the " Betsy," 
a mass of flame, was drifting across the harbor to the Charlestown beach. 
There she blazed away, while the crowd watched the bonfire from the 
dock, until the last timbers of the ship fell with a hiss into the black 
waters, and all was dark again. 

Popular sympathy is at best but an unstable sentiment, and so it 
proved with this unreasoning affection of the American people for France. 
Firmly the American authorities held to their policy of neutrality, refusing 
to be influenced in the slightest degree by the popular clamor of the 
people for an alliance with F"rance. Then the French sympathizers made 
their fatal error. In the presidential chair of the United States sat Wash- 
ington, the hero of the Revcjlution. Rashly the I'Vcnch minister and his 
following began an onslaught upon this great and wise man, because of 
his firm determination to keep the United States neutral. They accused 
him of being an "aristocrat;" of wishing to found an hereditary monarchy, 
with himself at the head. No epithet was too vile for them to apply to 
him: "liar" and "traitor" were terms freely applied to him whom wc 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 243 

regard as the veritable founder of our free Republic. Such intemperate 
and unreasoning malice as this had a very different effect from what 
was intended by the French sympathizers, or Republicans as the party was 
then termed. The party supporting the President gained strength and 
influence, even while the actions of Napoleon and the French Chamber 
of Deputies were giving American seamen the same grounds of complaint 
as those which Great Britain had so long forced upon them. 

It was during the last year of the administration of Washington, that 
the French Directory issued secret orders to the commanders of all 
French men-of-war, directing them to treat neutral vessels in the same 
manner as they had suffered the English to treat them. The cunning 
intent of this order is apparent by its wording : "Treat American vessels 
as they suffer themselves to be treated by the British." What course 
does that leave open to the Americans, save to resist the British, thereby 
become involved in a war, and so aid France ? But there was one other 
alternative ; and, much to the surprise and chagrin of the French, the 
Americans adopted it. And the only effect of the diplomatic secret order 
was to embroil France in a naval war with the United States. 

The condition of American commerce, after the promulgation of the 
French decree, became deplorable indeed. A merchant-vessel flying the 
American flag was never safe unless under the guns of an American 
war-vessel ; and the reduction of the navy had made these few indeed. 
Should the brig " Nancy " or " Sarah Jane " put out from the little port 
of Salem or New London, she was certain to be overhauled by some 
British frigate, whose boarding officer would pick from the brig's crew a 
few able sailors, and leave her to make her way short-handed as best she 
might. Ne.xt would come along some French frigate or privateer, — some 
"Terreur," " Incroyable," or " Insurgente," — whose astute officers would 
quickly notice the gaps in the American crew, and, finding out that the 
brig had been boarded by the English, would declare her a prize for 
having given aid to the enemies of la belle France. Should the little 
brig be so fortunate as to escape the civilized belligerents, there were still 
the pirates of Tripoli, the picaroons of the French West Indies, and the 
unauthorized and irresponsible pirates, who, with forged commissions and 
flying the Spanish or Portuguese colors, ravaged the seas in all directions. 
The career of an American merchantman at that time is admirably told 



244 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 

by our great novelist Fenimore Cooper in his sea-tale of " Miles Walling^ 
ford." The fate of the good brig " Dawn " was the fate of too many an 
American vessel in those turbulent times ; and the wondrous literary art 
with which the novelist has expanded the meagre records of the times 
into an historical novel of surpassing interest makes an acquaintance with 
the book essential to a proper knowledge of American naval history. 

The first act of retaliation on the part of the United States was the 
embargo ordered by Congress, which prohibited any vessel from leaving 
American ports. This action had two effects. It quickly brought about 
great distress in European countries, which even then relied much on 
the United States for food. This was the chief object of the embargo. 
The second effect was inevitable. The sudden check upon all foreign 
commerce plunged business in all parts of the United States into stag- 
nation. Sailors out of work thronged the streets of the seaport towns. 
Farmers trudged weary miles beside their o.x-teams, only to find, when 
they had hauled their produce to town, that there was no market for it. 
Along the cocks cne snips lay laiy tugging at tneir cables, or stranded 
on the flats as tne tide went out. Merchants discharged their clerks, 
and great warehouses were locked up and deserted. For nearly a year 
the ports were closed, and commerce thus languished. Then Congress 
substituted for the embargo the Non-intercourse Act, which simply pro- 
hibited commerce with France and England ; and again the American 
flag appeared upon the ocean. But the two warring nations had learned 
neither wisdom nor justice, and began again their depredations upon the 
unoffending Americans. Envoys were sent to France to protest against 
the outrageous action of that nation ; but they were told that no audience 
could be granted them, unless they paid into the French treasury two 
hundred and forty thousand dollars. This last insult was too great. The 
envoys returned home, told of their treatment, and the war party in 
the United States rallied to the defence of their nation's honor, shouting 
Pmckney's noble sentiment, "Millions for defence, but not one cent jor 
tribute." 




CHAPTER II. 



WAR WITH FRANCE. —THE BUILDING OF A NAVY. — FIRST SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS.— 
CUTTING OUT THE " SANDWICH." — THE "CONSTELLATION" AND " LTNSURGENTE." — THE 
"CONSTELLATION" AND "LA VENGEANCE." 



ij 



MILE France and England were waging a desperate and bloody 
war, the United States was like a shuttlecock, being struck 
repeatedly by the diplomatic battledores of each nation. Be- 
tween the British " Orders in Council " and the French " Milan 
Decree," American commerce was in a fair way of being obliterated. To 
declare war against both nations, would have been absurd in so young a 
people; and for months, and even years, the fierce contests of political 
parties in the United States made a declaration of war against either 
aggressor impracticable. Now the Franco-maniacs were in the ascend- 
ency, and the country rang with praises of France, — the nation which 
had cast off aristocrats, and, like America, was devoted to republican 
principles ; the nation which had aided the Colonies in their war for 
freedom. What though a French privateer did occasionally seize an 
American ship.' The Americans alone were to blame for that; for was 

245 



246 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

not their attitude toward England, their natural foe, enough to inflame 
the French? And were not the British aggressions more oppressive than 
those of France ? War there must be, but let it be declared against the 
hated British. 

Such were the sentiments of the French sympathizers, or Democrats 
as they were then termed in political parlance. But the English sym- 
pathizers, or Federalists, held very different opinions. They made no 
attempt to excuse the offensive attitude assumed by England, but claimed 
that so soon as her war with France was over she would admit the injus- 
tice of her actions, and make due reparation for the injuries she had 
heaped upon American commerce. But they pointed out that for one 
vessel taken by England, ten were seized by French privateers, or pirati- 
cal vessels of nondescript nationality, but bearing French papers. As 
for France loving republican principles, her republicanism was founded 
upon blood and the guillotine. She was no longer the nation that had 
aided the struggling Colonies. She was the nation that had foully mur- 
dered the kind king who had lent that aid two decades before. Besides 
these arguments, the Federalists did not scruple to hint, that, in ^ second 
war with England, the United States might lose the independence so 
recently won, while the navy of France was not so greatly to be dreaded. 

Indeed, the American people of that day might well be excused for 
lethargy in resenting the insults of any first-class naval power. It is 
not too strong a statement, to say that at this time, when the need was 
greatest, the United States had no navy. At the close of the Revolu- 
tion, the navy had been disbanded, the ships sold, and the officers dis- 
persed among the vessels of the merchant marine. This fact alone is 
enough to account for the depredations of French, English, Portuguese, 
Tripolitans, and the hordes of pirates without a country. Is there no 
lesson in this .'' From this lesson of history cannot we deduce the rule that 
a nation with 6,000 miles of sea-coast, a republic hated by all monarchies, 
must maintain its sea-power if it would maintain its honor ? The naval re- 
generation begun in 1893 ought not to be checked until the United States 
ranks ne.xt to Great Britain as a naval power. 

But the depredations of the enemies of American commerce at last 
reached such a point that Congress could no longer overlook the neces- 
sity for an American navy. In March, 1794, Congress, after listening to 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 247 



a message from the President detailing the depredations of the Algerines, 
passed an Act authorizing the construction or purchase of six frigates, or 
an equivalent naval force. This was the beginning of the present United 
States navy ; for some of the frigates built under that law are still afloat, 
although no longer exposed to the rude shocks of battle or the still more 
violent onslaughts of the mighty ocean. 

In accordance with the law, the frames of six frigates were quickly 
laid upon the stocks at six different ship-yards ; and even while the ribs 
were yet uncovered, commanders were selected for the unbuilt ships. 
The names of ships and officers alike are famous in American annals, 
and may well be mentioned here. The " Constitution," " President," 
"United States," "Chesapeake," "Constellation," and "Congress" were 
the vessels begun at this time ; and the rolls of no navy of the world 
ever bore six more famous names. The captains chosen were John Barry, 
Samuel Nicholson, Silas Talbot, Joshua Barney, Richard Dale, and Thomas 
Truxton. Of these, all save Truxton had served the Colonies in the Rev- 
olution. Barney narrowly escaped being totally disowned by his country, 
because while holding a commission in the French navy he had once 
accidentally hoisted the American flag upside down. A cry went up 
from his enemies, that it was an intentional insult to the country ; but 
his friends, with justice, pleaded that the flag had been wet, and a sailor, 
running it up to dry, had thus carelessly inverted it. 

In the mean time the building of the ships went merrily on, until, 
when they were nearly finished, a disgraceful treaty was made with 
Algiers, and work on the new navy was neglected, and three of the 
unfinished ships sold. But in 1797 the French depredations became so 
unbearable that work was hastened ; and cities and towns, not satisfied 
with the three frigates provided for, began collecting subscriptions for 
the purchase of ships, to be presented to the Government. The first 
of the frigates building by the Government to reach the water was the 
" United States." As the first vessel built by the United States under 
the Constitution, her launch was an event to be celebrated. At noon 
on the bright May afternoon chosen, the streets of Philadelphia leading 
to the ship-yard, where the hull of the great frigate lay upon the stocks, 
were thronged with holiday-making people. The sun had hardly risen, 



248 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



when anxious spectators began to seize upon the best points of observa- 
tion about the ship-yard. The hour of the launch was set at one p.m. ; 
and for hours before the crowd of watchers sung patriotic songs, cheered 
for Congress and the new navy, and anxiously debated the chances of 
a successful launch. The river was covered with pleasure-craft, decked 
with flags, and bright with the gay dresses of ladies. The great frigate, 
too, was a mass of bunting from stem to stern. At one ' precisely, the 
blows of many hammers were heard knocking out the blocks ; and, after a 
moment's trembling pause, the first United States frigate glided swiftly 







■J" Ki/r/' • 



TOASTING THE WOODEN WALLS OF C0LUMBL\. 



into the water, and, after a graceful dip, rode buoyantly on the placid sur- 
face of the Delaware. 

While the ships were building, the war-feeling against France was 
steadily growing, and the enthusiasm of the people over the infant navy 
knew no bounds. Toasts to the "wooden walls of Columbia," and the 
" rising navy of America," were drunk with cheers at stately public ban 
quets, and by bands of jolly roisterers at tap-houses. The patriotic song 
writer invaded the columns of the newspapers ; and, as these could not 
afford space for all the poetic effusions, they were printed on broadsides, 
and hawked about the streets. At Harvard College the students made 
the chapel walls ring with the ode written by Joseph Story: — 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 24/9 

"Shall Gallia's clan our coast invade, 

With hellish outrage scourge the main, 
Insult our nation's neutral trade, 
And we not dare our rights maintain ? 
Rise, united Harvard's band. 
Rise, the bulwark of our land." 

Admirable as may be the patriotism of this ode, the poetry is not 
above criticism ; but it is classic in comparison with many others. The 
following stanza and chorus will show the character of one of the most 
popular street-songs of the day : — 

"Americans, then fly to arms. 
And learn the way to use 'em. 
If each man fights to 'fend his right:*, 

The French can't long abuse 'em. 

Yankee Doodle (mind the tune), 

Yankee Doodle Dandy; 
For the French there's trouble brewin': 

We'll spank 'em, hand and handy." 

From Maine to Georgia the mania for writing such doggerel spread 
with a rapidity only equalled by the avidity with which the people seized 
upon the songs, and sung them. A complete collection of these remark, 
able efforts of poetic art would form an amusing volume, and from it 
alone a history of political movements in the United States might be 
written. That even such wretched doggerel had its effect upon popular 
sentiment, cannot be doubted ; for has it not been said, " I care not who 
makes the laws of a nation, let me but write its songs " ? 

But the manifestation of the growing ill-feeling towards France was 
not confined to poor but harmless poetizing. The first open rupture took 
place at Savannah. In the port of that city were lying two long, rakish 
schooners flying the French tricolor. Their decks were crowded with 
men, whose rough actions and brutal countenances showed them to be 
no respecters of law or order. It did not need the rows of cannon pro- 
truding from the ports, nor the carefully covered "long Toms" amid- 



250 BLUE-JACKETS OF 181 2. 

ships, to indicate to the good people of Savannah that their harbor 
sheltered two French privateers. Among the seafaring people of the 
city, the sight of these two vessels aroused the greatest anger. Were 
they not representatives of the nation whose ships were seizing and 
burning American vessels in the West Indies almost daily .' Perhaps 
these very vessels were then fresh from an action with some American 
ship. Who could tell that the holds of the privateers did not at that 
very minute contain the best part of the cargo of some captured American 
vessel.' Probably the last shot fired from that "long Tom" had crashed 
into the side of some little brig flying the stars and stripes, and perhaps 
ended the career of many an American sailor. From suspicions and 
conjectures, positive statements soon grew. It was whispered about that 
the two privateers had recently plundered and burned a Yankee ship 
returning from the West Indies with a goodly store of specie in exchange 
for her cargo. Those cut-throat-looking Frenchmen were even then stained 
with the blood of true Americans. The money they threw on the bars of 
water-side dram-shops, in exchange for the vile rum which was the worst 
enemy of too many a good jack-tar, was looked upon with suspicion. 
"What Yankee's pockets did Johnny Crapaud pick to get all that money.'" 
growled the American sailors. 

The Frenchmen were not slow in discovering the dislike manifested 
by the people of Savannah ; and like true soldiers of fortune, as they 
were, they did nothing to make friends of their enemies. They came 
ashore in troops instead of singly. Cutlasses hung at their sides. Their 
tight leather belts held many a knife or clumsy pistol. Their walk on 
the street was a reckless swagger ; and a listener who could understand 
French could catch in their loud conversation many a scornful sneer or 
braggart defiance of the Americans. 

Such a state of affairs could not long continue. Each party was ready 
and waiting to fight, and it was not hard to find an excuse. How the 
fighting began, no one ever knew ; but one night the streets of the little 
city resounded with cries of rage and groans of agony Soon crowds 
began to gather ; and sailors rushed up and down the streets, crying that 
the French desperadoes had killed three Americans. The rage of the popu- 
lace, and particularly of the seafaring community, had no bounds. " Arm ! 
arm ! and take bloody vengeance upon the murderers," was the cry in all 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 251 

quarters. The mob blocked all the roadways leading to the water-front. 
With cutlasses and guns they attacked the sailors on " L' Agile," which 
lav at a wharf, and drove them overboard. Once in possession of the 
ship, the enraged rioters vented their fury by cutting away the masts 
and rigging, tearing to pieces the woodwork of the cabin, and finally 
putting the torch to the battered bulk, and sending her drifting help- 
lessly down the river. This summary vengeance did not satisfy their 
anger. They looked about them for the other vessel, " La Vengeance," 
and discovered that she had been towed away from the shore, and was 
being warped up stream to a place of safety. Boats were secured, and 
the irresistible mob set out in mad pursuit. A militia company, hastily 
sent to the scene of action by the authorities of the town, failed to check 
the riot ; and, after a futile struggle on the part of her crew, " La Ven- 
geance " shared the fate of her consort. Sympathy for France was well 
rooted out of Savannah then, and the cry of the city was for war. 

Before the news of the uprising at Savannah was known in New 
England, the navy had struck the first blow against French oppression, 
and the victory had rested with the sailors of the United States. Con- 
gress had at last been aroused to a sense of the situation, and had 
issued orders to captains of American war-vessels, directing them to 
capture French cruisers wherever found. A number of large merchant- 
vessels and India-men had been armed hastily, and sent out ; and at last 
the country had a navy on the seas. One of the first vessels to ^et 
away was the "Delaware," a twenty-gun ship, commanded by Stephen 
Decatur the elder. Decatur had been out but a few days when a 
merchantman, the " Alexander Hamilton," was sighted, from the halliards 
of which a flag of distress was flying. The " Delaware " ran toward the 
vessel, and sent a boat aboard, which returned, bringing the captain of 
the distressed craft. To Decatur the captain related the old story of French 
aggression, which had become so hateful. Only the day before, he said, 
his ship had been boarded by boats'-crews from a French privateer of 
twenty guns. The assailants, once on board, had oaten his provisions, 
and plundered his cargo without scruple. He gave careful directions as 
to the course of the privateer after leaving the "Alexander Hamilton," 
and returned to his ship happy in the thought, that, though he could not 
regain his plundered property, the thieves at least would be punished. 



252 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

Decatur crowded on all sail, and set off in pursuit of the oppressor. 
Four hours later, the lookout forward reported four schooners in sight off 
the bow. For a moment the captain was puzzled, as he had no means 
of knowing which was the guilty privateer ; but, after brief deliberation, 
he determined to adopt strategy. The rigging of his vessel was slackened, 
the yards slewed round, and every attempt made to transform the trim 
man-o'-war into a shiftless merchantman. Then the helmsman was in- 
structed to carefully avoid running near the suspected schooners. The 
ruse succeeded admirably. The lookouts in the tops of the schooners 
reported an American merchantman in sight, but making attempts to 
escape. The cupidity of the Frenchmen was aroused. In the "Dela- 
ware " they saw only a defenceless ship, from which, by virtue of their 
strength, they could take whatever plunder they desired. From the decks 
of the " Delaware," the sailors could see the Frenchmen shaking out sail 
after sail ; and soon one schooner, a perfect cloud of canvas, took the 
lead, and left her consorts far in the rear. It was the privateer they were 
after. The jackies of the "Delaware" clambered into the rigging, and 
set all sail, with the clumsiness of merchant-sailors ; but, though the ship 
spread a large expanse of qanvas, she was making but little progress, for 
two long cables dragged in the water astern, holding her back. The 
Frenchman came up gallantly, but suddenly discovered the ports along 
the side of the " Delaware," and concluded he had caught a Tartar. It 
was too late to escape then ; for the " Delaware," coming about, had the 
schooner directly under her guns, and the Frenchman had no course left 
but to surrender. The privateer proved to be " Le Croyable," of four- 
teen guns and seventy men. Her captain was vastly astounded to hear 
that the United States had at last sent out cruisers against the French, 
who had come to look upon Americans as their legitimate prey. Keeping 
"Le Croyable" alongside, Decatur ran for Philadelphia, where he was 
received with unbounded enthusiasm. The captured ship was taken into 
the United States navy, under the name of the "Retaliation," and 
sent, under command of Lieut. Bainbridge, to cruise in search of other 
privateers. 

But the career of the " Retaliation " under the American flag was 
neither long nor glorious. Ill luck seemed to attend the vessel in all her 
cruises, and Bainbridge wandered up and down the high seas without 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1 812. 253 

getting within range of a French cruiser or privateer. In November, 
1798, the "Retaliation" was cruising, with two other men-of-war, in the 
West Indies, not far from Guadaloupe. One day three sails were made 
out to the eastward, and two more to the westward. Bainbridge thought 
that at last his opportunity had arrived ; and the " Retaliation " set off 
to reconnoitre the strangers on the eastward, while the two other American 
ships made after the three sails in the opposite direction. As Bainbridge 
gained upon his chase, he concluded from their appearance that they were 
two English ships, and accordingly threw aside all caution, and sailed 
boldly alongside. Unluckily, they proved to be hostile French cruisers ; 
and, when the discovery was made, the " Retaliation " was well within 
range. Every sail was set, and the ship put before the wind, to escape 
from the enemy, but too late. The leading ship of the enemy was a 
fine frigate ; and she rushed through the water after the fugitive, like 
a dolphin after a flying-fish. Soon a heavy shot from one of the frigate's 
bow-chasers came whizzing by the " Retaliation," unpleasantly reminding 
the Americans that they were still within range, and their adversaries 
carried heavy metal. The second frigate soon opened fire, and the posi- 
tion of the "Retaliation" became hopeless. Her flag was unwillingly 
hauled down, and the vessel became again the property of its original 
owners. It is a strange coincidence, that this ship should have thus been 
the first prize of both Americans and French in the war. 

The Frenchmen were not content with their success in capturing the 
" Retaliation : " so, while one frigate stopped to secure the prize, the other 
passed on in hot chase after "The Retaliation's" two former consorts, 
the " Montezuma " and " Norfolk." Bainbridge was taken aboard the 
French frigate " Volontaire," which then continued her course in the wake 
of her consort, the " Insurgente." For the captured American captain 
on the deck of the "Volontaire," the chase was one of great excitement. 
He well knew that the two stately French frigates were much more than 
a match for the flying Americans ; and, should they overhaul the chase, 
the "Montezuma" and the "Norfolk" would join the "Retaliation" in 
French captivity. Racked with anxiety he paced the deck, trying in vain 
not to perceive that the pursuers were steadily gaining, and chafing under 
the position of helplessness in which he found himself. But an oppor- 
tunity to help did unexpectedly present itself. The French captain, after 



2 54 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 

a long look through his marine-glasses at the flying craft, turned to 
Bainbriclge, and inquired, — 

" What may be the force of your consorts, captain ? " 
Without a moment's hesitation, Bainbridge responded, — 
"The ship carries twenty-eight twelve-pounders, and the brig twenty 
nines." 

The Frenchman was astounded, as well he might be ; for Bain- 
bridge's answer was a most preposterous falsehood, nearly doubling the 
actual armament of the two vessels. An eager consultation was imme- 
diately held by the officers on the quarter-deck. Bainbridge looked on 
anxiously, and was delighted with the success of his ruse, when he heard 
orders for the hoisting of a signal which should call back the frigate 
leading in the chase. The signal was hoisted ; and the " Insurgente," 
obeying, abandoned the chase, and returned. Her captain was indignant 
at his recall, and curious to know the cause of it. When told of Bain- 
bridge's statement, he was furious ; for his ship had been close enough 
to the chase to see that the Americans were small craft, utterly unable to 
cope with the two pursuing frigates. For his falsehood, Bainbridge was 
roundly abused, and many a French oath was hurled at his head. His 
action was indeed inexcusable by the rules of honor ; and the utmost 
that can be said of it by the most patriotic American is, that by his 
falsehood he saved two good ships for the infant navy of the United 
States. From a military point of view, however, his conduct was com- 
mendable ; and in recognition thereof, on his release from captivity, he 
was made commander of the " Norfolk," one of the vessels he had saved. 
France and the United States were now actually at war, although no 
definite declaration of war had been made by either party. This fact 
made many French privateers assume an injured air, on being captured 
by United States ships, and complain that they had never heard of any 
declaration of war. With a Frenchman of this sort, Stephen Decatu: 
the younger had an experience early in his naval career. 

This occurred in February, 1799. The frigate "United States" was 
cruising near Martinique in that year, and to her young Decatur was at- 
tached as a sub-lieutenant. One morning a French privateer was sighted, 
and the frigate set out in hot pursuit. The privateer took the alarm 
quickly, and crowded on all sail, until her long, narrow hull slipped 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 255 

through the waves like a fish. The breeze was fresh, and the chase an 
exciting one ; but gradually the immense spread of the frigate's canvas 
began to tell, and she rapidly overhauled the fugitive. The French 
captain was plucky, and even desperate, in his attempt to escape ; for, 
seeing that he was about to be overhauled, he resorted to the expedient 
of a fo.x chased by hounds, and doubled, turning short to windward, and 
running right under the guns of the frigate. The move was a bold one, 
and might well have succeeded, had it not been for the good marksman- 
ship of a gunner on the frigate, who promptly sent a twenty-four-pound 
shot (the only one fired in the affair) straight through the hull of the 
privateer, between wind and water. In an instant all was confusion on 
the French vessel. The water poured into her hold through the hole 
cut by the shot ; and the hasty lowering of her sails, and the frantic 
howls for succor from the crew, told the people of the " United States " 
that their chase was at an end. The boats of the frigate were quickly 
lowered, and Decatur went in one as officer in command. When he 
reached the sinking ship, he found a scene too ludicrous to be pathetic. 
Along the rail of the vessel, from bow to stern, the Frenchmen were 
perched like birds. Many had stripped off all their clothes, in order to 
be prepared to swim ; and from all arose a medley of plaintive cries for 
help, and curses on that unlucky shot. By skilful management of the 
boats, all were saved ; and it happened that Decatur pulled into his own 
boat the captain of the sinking vessel. 

Brushing the salt water out of his eyes, this worthy expressed great 
surprise that he had been fired upon by a vessel bearing the United 
States flag. 

"Ees eet that that ees a sheep of les fitats-Unis .' " he inquired, in 
the broken English that four years of cruising against Americans had 
enabled him to pick up. 

"It is," responded Decatur. 

" I am indeed sairprised. I had not thought that les Ittat.s-Unis had 
the war with La Republique Fran^aise." 

" No, sir," responded Decatur, thoroughly provoked ; " but you knew 
that the French Republic was at war with the United States, that you 
were taking our merchant-vessels every day, and crowding our country- 
men into prison at Basseterre to die like sheep." 



256 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 

This was more than the Frenchman could deny, and he was con- 
strained to accept his capture with the best grace possible. 

An audacious, but clearly illegal, exploit of the blue-jackets in this 
war, was the cutting out and capture of the French Icttcr-of-marqiie 
Jcssel " Sandwich," as she lay in Port Platte, a small harbor on the 
Spanish side of St. Domingo. Commodore Talbot, who won a reputation 
for daring and recklessness in the Revolution, was cruising about on the 
San Domingo station, and had spent some weeks in monotonous voyaging, 
without an opportunity to capture a single prize. Word was brought 
to the squadron, that in the little harbor of Port Platte a vessel was 
taking in a cargo of coffee. From the description of the vessel, Com- 
modore Talbot recognized her as a former British packet, the " Sand- 
wich," now sailing under French letters of marque. Her known speed 
and seaworthy qualities made her too valuable a prize to be left in the 
hands of the enemy ; and Talbot, without more ado, determined to cap- 
ture her. The first difficulty that lay in the way was the fact that the 
vessel was under the protection of Spain, a neutral power. Talbot was no 
man to notice so purely formal an obstacle. He growled out a decided 
negative to all hints about respecting a neutral flag. Spain neutral, 
indeed ! She might claim to be neutral, but her Picaroons were too 
often to be found among the French pirates to leave any respect for 
Spain's neutrality in the mind of a man of sense; and the "Sandwich" 
he was going to take, and on his own responsibility. This silenced all 
opposition. 

Having arrived at the determination to take the " Sandwich," the next 
problem to be solved was, how shall she be taken .' Obviously the first 
step was to make a careful reconnoissance of the ship and her defences. 
To Lieut. Hull of the " Constitution," this duty was assigned. One dark 
and stormy 'night Mr. Hull took one of the frigate's cutters, and, pulling 
into the harbor, carefully examined the situation. On his return, he 
reported that the " Sandwich " was stripped of her rigging, and lay 
directly under the guns of a small battery, built on shore for her pro- 
tection. To sail in with the frigate, and capture the enemy by more 
force of arms, would have been simple enough ; but the object of the 
Americans was to take the ship without injuring her, in order that she 
might at once join the United States squadron. Strategy was therefore 
necessary. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



257 



It was accordingly determined to secure an American merchant-vessel, 
that could enter the port, and run alongside the " Sandwich," without 
arousing suspicion. Luckily at that very moment a craft turned up that 
filled the need precisely. This was the American sloop " Sally," a battered, 

weather-beaten little craft, that had for 
some time been trading in the West 
Indies, and by her very insignificance 
had escaped capture by the French. She 
had often entered and cleared from Port 
Platte, and therefore her appearance there 
would create no suspicion. 

The " Sally " 
was accordingly 
chosen to bear 
the sailors on 
their audacious 
expedition. A 
rendezvous hav- 
ing been appoint- 
ed, the sloop met 




HULL MAKES A RECONNOISSANCE. 



the "Constitution" far out at sea; and a large body of blue-jackets 
and marines left the frigate, and took quarters on the clumsy little 
merchantman, which then laid her course for Port Platte. About mid- 



258 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

night the lookouts on the "Sally" saw a vessel's lights near at hand; 
but, beyond reporting to the officer of the deck, they paid no heed to 
their neighbor. Suddenly, however, out of the darkness came a bright 
flash ; and the hum of a heavy shot in the air above the " Sally " was 
followed by the dull report of a cannon. At the same time a blue light 
burned on the deck of the vessel from which the shot proceeded, showed 
her to be a powerful frigate. Then ensued a few moments of intense 
suspense for the little band on the "Sally." Should the stranger prove 
to be a French frigate, all was lost ; but in that latitude English vessels 
were common, and possibly this might be one. Soon the regular thump- 
ing of oars in the tholepins, and the splashing of the waves against an 
approaching boat, could be heard ; and in a few minutes a hail came from 
the black water alongside, and the dark figure of a man standing in the 
stern-sheets of a boat was seen. A rope was thrown him, by the aid of 
which he nimbly clambered aboard. An involuntary murmur of relief 
arose from the party on the " Sally," as by the dim light of the lanterns 
they saw that the officer wore a British uniform. The officer himself 
could not repress a start and exclamation of surprise as he saw a band 
of officers in naval uniform, and a large body of blue-jackets and marines, 
on the vessel which he expected to find manned by a half-dozen lanky 
Yankees, commanded by a down-east " skipper." 

" Why, what ship's this .' " he exclaimed in suri)rise, as he looked 
upon the armed men about him. Lieut. Hull, who was in command, 
explained to him the situation, and told him of the adventure that was 
being attempted. The officer seemed much disappointed, and told Mr. 
Hull that the British frigate was standing about outside the harbor, to 
capture the " Sandwich " as she came out ; but the idea of so boldly 
setting at naught the principles of neutrality had not occurred to them. 
After a few minutes' conversation, the visitor returned to his ship, ami 
the "Sally" proceeded on her errand. She reached the entrance to the 
harbor of Port Platte in the morning, and sailed boldly in. Most of 
I he crew and the marines were hidden beneath the bulwarks, or sent 
below ; so that the people on the " Sandwich " gave but a glance to the 
approaching vessel, until she ran so close to their vessel's bows that 
they feared an accident. 

"Look out there, or you'll run foul of us!" shouted a mate from the 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1 812. 259 

deck of the " Sandwich ; and, as if his cry was a signal, the helm of 
the "Sally" was put down, the vessel ranged up alongside, and in an 
instant a torrent of armed men poured over the sides of the surprised 
Frenchman, and drove the crew below. There was no resistance. The 
ship was captured in five minutes. The marines of the expedition had 
been sent ashore to spike the guns of the battery, and their work was 
performed with equal promptitude. Then all hands set to work rigging 
the captured vessel, and getting her ready for sea. On the shore the 
people were in the greatest excitement, beating drums, parading the few 
militia, and threatening dire revenge in the name of outraged Spain. 
But the captors of the vessel paid but little attention to their enemies ; 
and by sunset the "Sandwich," with all sails set, left the harbor, and 
joined the United States squadron. 

The news of this achievement, lawless as it was, evoked great enthu- 
siasm in the United States. A nation's conscience is elastic ; and the 
people praised the heroes of the " Sandwich " episode, much as sixty-five 
years later they commended the commander of the " Wacliuset " for 
running down and capturing the Confederate ship " Florida," which was 
relying upon the protection of a neutral port in Brazil. Yet in 18 14, 
when two British frigates attacked and captured the " Essex " in the 
harbor of Rio Janeiro, the good people of the United States were loud 
in their denunciations of the treachery of a commander who would so 
abuse the protection of a neutral nation. Such inconsistencies are only 
too common in the history of nations. In the end, however, the affair 
of the "Sandwich" terminated disastrously for the bold adventurers; for 
the protests of Spain were too forcible to be disregarded, and the prize- 
money of all concerned in the exploit was confiscated to pay the damages 
awarded the injured party. 

Not all the successes of the United States navy in the war witli 

France were, like those we have related, dependent upon the speed 

rather than the fighting qualities of our ships. Not many months had 

passed, when two representative ships of the warring nations met, and 

tried conclusions at the mouths of their cannon. It was on the 9th of 

February that the " Constellation," one of the new American frigates, was 

cruising on her station in the West Indies, when her lookout reported a 

large ship some miles to leeward. The frigate at once ran down upon 
12 



26o BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 

the stranger, which lioisted American colors. Among ships of the same 
navy it is customary to have private signals of recognition ; and Commo- 
dore Truxton, who commanded the " Constellation," set his signal, and 
awaited the answer. But no answer came ; and the stranger, evidently 
considering further disguise impossible, boldly set French colors, and 
fired a gun to windward by way of a challenge. 

On the " Constellation " the challenge aroused universal enthusiasm. 
For the first time since the Revolution, the gallant defenders of the 
stars and stripes were to have an opportunity to try their strength with 
a hostile man-of-war. The enemy seemed no less ready for the conflict, 
and waited gallantly for the " Constellation " to come down to closer 
quarters. From both ships came the roll of the drums and the shrill 
pipings of the bo's'n's whistle, as the men were called to quarters. Then 
all became still, and the two frigates bore down upon each other. Neither 
antagonist was hasty about opening fire, and the report of the first gun 
came from the Yankee when she had come into point-blank range. Then 
began the thunderous broadsides, that soon enveloped the hulls of the 
two ships in dense gray smoke ; so that, to an observer at a little dis- 
tance, all that could be seen of the fight was the tapering masts and 
yard-arms, above the smoke, crowded with sailors repairing damages, and 
nimble young midshipmen shrilly ordering about the grizzled seamen, 
and now and again taking a crack at the enemy with pistol or musket, 
by way of recreation. In the foretop of the " Constellation " was sta- 
tioned young David Porter, who in that trying moment showed the 
result of his hard schooling in the merchant-service, of which we have 
spoken. By the rapid fire of the enemy, the foretopmast was badly cut, 
and there was great danger that it might go by the board. Porter hailed 
the deck several times for instructions, but, finding that his voice could 
not be heard above the roar of battle, determined to act upon his own 
responsibility, and accordingly cut away the sails, lowered the yards, 
and, by relieving the injured spar of all strain, prevented its falling. In 
the mean time the battle raged fiercely below. The American frigate 
was more powerful in her armament, and better handled, than the French- 
man. Her guns were handled with deliberation, and the aim of the gun- 
ners was sure and deadly ; while the shot from the enemy went hurtling 
through the rigging of the "Constellation," doing but little damage. The 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 26 1 

decks of the Frenchman were covered with dead and wounded, and at 
last two raking broadsides from the American frigate ended the con- 
flict. When the vanquished ship was boarded, she proved to be the 
" Insurgente," the same frigate that had captured the " Retaliation " some 
months before. Her loss in this engagement amounted to twenty-nine 
killed and forty-one wounded, while the cock-pit of the " Constellation " 
was tenanted by but three wounded men ; and but one American had 
lost his life, he having been killed by an officer, for cowardice. Both 
ships were badly cut up in the engagement. 

The news of this victory was received with great rejoicing in the 
United States, and was celebrated with cannon-firing and the ringing of 
bells. At Boston, the fourth Sunday in March was set for a day of gen- 
eral rejoicing ; and on that day huge crowds gathered in State Street, 
and after salutes had been fired, and the city's bells pealed, the people, 
at a given signal, joined in three mighty cheers, that fairly shook the 
surrounding houses, for Truxton, the " Constellation," the blue-jackets, 
and the success of the wooden walls of America. 

Even after the "Insurgente" had struck her flag, the tars of the 
" Constellation " found they had an elephant on their hands. The work 
of transferring the prisoners was begun, and actively prosecuted ; but, when 
night fell, there were still nearly two hundred Frenchmen on the prize. 
The wind was rising fast, and the long rollers of the Atlantic were being 
lashed into foaming breakers by the rising gale. It was hazardous for 
the two vessels to continue near each other ; and Lieutenant Rodgers, 
with Midshipman Porter and eleven men, was detailed to take charge 
of the prize, and bring her into port. When the officers boarded the 
prize, they found that they had indeed a desperate undertaking before 
them. It was difficult enough for thirteen men to handle the great ship, 
without having to keep in subjection one hundred and seventy-three cap- 
tives. To add to the danger, the gratings had been thrown overboard, 
and there was no way of confining the captives in the hold. A careful 
search for handcuffs resulted only in failure. But Rodgers was a man 
of decision, and Porter, though but a boy, was bold and determined ; and 
between them they solved the problem. The prisoners were ordered 
below ; and a sentinel was placed at each hatchway, with orders to shoot 
the first man who should attempt to come on deck. Howitzers loaded 



262 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

with grape were trained upon the hatchway, for use in case of an organ- 
ized movement of the prisoners. For three days the officers sustained 
tl-iis fearful strain, without a moment's sleep; but their labors were finallj 
crowned by successfully bringing the ship and prisoners into St. Kitts. 

In the second pitched battle of the war, the "Constellation" was again 
the American combatant ; but this time, though the fight was a glorious 
one, it did not terminate so fortunately for the American ship. It was 
on the 1st of February, 1800, that the gallant frigate, under the same 
commander, was cruising about her old hunting-grounds, near Guadaloupe. 
A sail was sighted, which, after a careful examination through his marine- 
glass, Commodore Tru.xton pronounced to be an English merchantman. 
As an invitation to the stranger to approach, English colors were hoisted 
on the "Constellation," but had only the effect of causing the stranger 
to sheer off ; for she was, indeed, a French war-vessel. Perplexed by the 
actions of the mysterious ship, the "Constellation" gave chase, and soon 
came near enough to see that she had caught a Tartar; 'for the vessel was 
the French frigate " La Vengeance," mounting fifty-two guns. Although 
a more powerful vessel than the American, she continued her flight ; while 
the gallant Truxton, caring nothing for the odds against him, kept on in 
not jDursuit. All the remainder of that day, and until noon of the next, 
the chase continued, with but little change in the position of the ships. 
"A stern chase is a long chase," thought the jackies on the "Constella- 
tion ; " but they were not discouraged, and only crowded on the more sail. 
On the afternoon of the second day, the American began to gnin rapidly ; 
and by eight at night the two ships were within speaking distance of 
each other. Truxton mounted the rail, and shouted through a speaking- 
trumpet, "What ship is that.'" The only answer was a shot from the 
stern-port of the Frenchman, and the fight was opened. 

It was then growing dark, though the faint glow of the long tropic 
twilight still lingered on the western horizon. Above the towering masts 
of the two great frigates, the stars gleamed with a brilliancy seldom 
seen in more northern latitudes. As the ships rushed through the water, 
the waves broke against the bows, and fell back in masses of phosphor- 
escent light ; while the wakes of the vessels could be traced far back 
into the darkness, — two parallel paths of light, that glowed and sparkled 
like the milky way that spanned the starry sky above. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 263 

Side by side the two frigates ploughed through the water. The creak- 
ing of their cordage, and the rushing of the wind through the rigging, 
mingled with the thunder of the cannonade, which, though slow, and 
made up of single reports, when the "Constellation" was confined to 
the use of her bow-chasers, soon rose to thunderous broadsides as the 
two ships came side to side. As the twilight died away, the two con- 
testants were enveloped in almost total darkness, save for the fitful flashes 
of the cannon, and the red glare of the battle-lanterns that hung from 
the shrouds. The gunners had for a target nothing but a black, shape- 
less mass, that could be seen rushing through the waves some hundreds 
of yards away. But this did not prevent fearful execution being done on 
both sides. For five hours the two ships kept up the running fight. 
The ponderous eighteen and forty-two pound shot of the enemy crashed 
into the " Constellation," or swept her decks, doing dreadful damage. The 
deck was strewn with dead and dying men, and the surgeons down in 
the cock-pit soon had their tables full of moaning sufferers. No one could 
tell what might be the condition of " La Vengeance ; " but her regular 
fire told that she was in no wise disabled. At one o'clock in the morn- 
ing, the sound of her guns seemed to be more distant ; and by the flash 
of the cannon it was seen that she was drawing out of the fight. The 
Americans cheered lustily, and Tru.xton ordered that his ship be braced 
up in chase. 

But the fire of the enemy had been rapid and well directed ; and now, 
at this critical moment, its results were to rob the " Constellation " of 
her victory. As the ships were brought about, to follow in the track 
of the flying "Vengeance," an officer came rushing to the quarter-deck, 
and reported that all the shrouds and braces of the foremast had been 
shot away, and the mast was in momentary danger of falling. The rigging 
had been so literally cut in pieces by the fire of the enemy, that splicing 
was out of the question ; but Tru.xton, in the hope of saving his mast, 
called all hands from the guns, and the fire of the " Constellation " 
stopped. 

Up in the forctop was stationed Midshipman Jarvis, with a dozen or 
more of jackies, whose duty it was to mend the cordage of the topmast, 
and to keep up a musketry fire upon the enemy. Long before the officer 
of the deck had reported the danger of the foremast, one of the tollmen 
had told Jarvis, who was but a lad, that the mast was likely to fall. 



264 BLUE-JACKETS OF 18 12. 

"Ay, ay, my lad," responded the plucky young officer; "but our place 
is here, and we must go with it." 

The sailors on the deck below worked manfully : but, notwithstanding 
all their efforts, the mast soon went by the board ; and Jarvis and his 
brave comrades were thrown far out into the black water, never to be 
seen again. 

The fall of the foremast ended the battle for the "Constellation." 
Helpless, and cumbered by the wreck, she tossed about on the water^ 
while her foe made good her escape. What might have been the outcome 
of the conflict, had it continued, it is impossible to tell. "La Vengeance" 
carried heavier metal and a larger crew than the American frigate ; and 
Tru.xton, with all his dash, found no mean adversary in Capt. Pitot. Yet 
the condition of the French ship when she came into port at Cura^oa 
showed that the fire of the Yankee gunners had been rapid and accurate. 
Fifty of the enemy were killed, and one hundred and ten wounded ; 
while, of the Americans, only thirty-nine appeared on the lists of killed 
and wounded. It was said at the time, that Capt. Pitot reported having 
struck his flag three times ; hoisting it again, on finding that in the 
darkness the " Constellation " took no notice of the surrender. But this 
seems, on the face of it, improbable ; and the action can hardly be 
awarded to either ship, although the gallantry shown on either side was 
enough to win a victory. 

It may well be imagined that this brilliant action, together with the 
capture of " L'Insurgente," made the "Constellation" the most popular 
ship of the navy ; a place which she held until the stirring events of 
the war with England pushed the " Constitution " so far to the front, that 
even now, when she lies dismantled and rotting at the Brooklyn navy- 
yard, Americans still think of " Old Ironsides " as the typical ship of our 
once glorious navy. 

The actions between the "Constellation" and the "Vengeance" and 
" Insurgente " were the chief contests between regularly commissioned 
ships of the two nations in the war with France. lUit the West Indies 
were filled with privateers and semi-piratical craft, with which the navy 
waged a ceaseless warfare, which well prepared the blue-jackets for the 
graver struggle which was yet to come with Great Britain. The half-savage 
population of the French islands was a fruitful source of trouble to the 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 265 

American seaman. These gentry, known as Picaroons, seemed to have 
a natural inclination for piracy ; and the unlucky merchant-captain who 
should come to anchor, or be becalmed, near one of the islands, was sure 
to see his vessel boarded, and his cargo plundered, by a lawless horde of 
Frenchmen and mulattoes, whose dialect was an unmusical combination 
of French and African tongues. The custom of the Picaroons was to 
do their cruising in huge barges propelled by sweeps. With these they 
would often cut out a merchant-vessel from beneath the guns of a protect- 
ing man-of-war, and tow her off to be plundered at leisure. Occasionally, 
however, their well-laid plans failed in the execution. 

One of the most noted of these occasions was the repulse of ten 
Picaroon barges that attacked the United States topsail schooner "Experi- 
ment," and a fleet of merchantmen under her charge. The " Experiment,'" 
with her convoy, was lying becalmed in the Bight of Leogane, in the 
island of San Domingo. Not a breath of air was stirring ; and the vessels, 
drifting about at the mercy of the currents, soon became widely separated, 
and were an easy prey for the hordes of Picaroons that swarmed in that 
region. In no way could the "Experiment" secure a position which 
would enable her to protect all the merchantmen. In this dilemma it 
was determined to disguise the war-vessel, in the hopes that the pirates, 
taking her for a merchantman, would attack her first. This was done ; 
and, as luck would have it, the Picaroons fell into the trap. 

Although not the captain of the ship, Lieut. David Porter was in 
command on this occasion ; and, on hearing that ten Picaroon barges 
with swivels in the bows, and crews of forty men each, were approaching, 
he sent his crew to quarters, and prepared for a desperate resistance. 
Onward over the smooth waters came the huge barges, each with its 
twenty-six oars, looking like a mighty centipede. On the ship every thing 
was quiet, as the jackies stood to their guns, with the prospect of a 
deadly struggle before them. Should the barges get to close quarters, 
and surround the schooner, no earthly power could prevent their boarding, 
when their numbers would surely bring them success. But the painful 
pause before the battle was not long. .Suddenly Porter, ever on the alert, 
cried out to fire. From every gun that could be brought to bear, a 
storm of grape and canister was rained upon the advancing boats ; and 
the yells that went up from the astounded Picaroons told of the deadly 



266 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 



work done in the crowded boats. For a moment, the fleet of barges 
tell into confusion ; some retreating, some advancing, and others drifting 
about helpless. Although the murderous fire was kept up, the pirates 
formed again, and attempted to get alongside, but were repeatedly beaten 
back. With musketry and swivels they attempted to answer the fire of 
the Americans; but with little effect, for the crew of the "Experiment" 
kept close under the bulwarks. Men were precious then, and Porter 
would not let one expose himself unnecessarily ; but he himself, from 
his prominent post of observation, was an easy mark, and a Picaroon's 
bullet soon lodged in his shoulder. Notwithstanding the painful wound, 
he never left his post. The unexpected opposition only maddened the 
Picaroons, and they made desperate attempts to get alongside ; but to no 
avail. Now the stern and now the bow of the " E.xperiment " was chosen 
as the point of attack ; but still the rapid fire of the jackies beat the 
pirates back. 

On the low-lying shores of the islands, some hundreds more of the 
Picaroons had gathered to watch the conflict ; and, as the boats became 
short-handed from the carnage, they put back to the shore, and returned 
to the fight fully re-enforced. The bodies of the dead were thrown over- 
board without ceremony, and soon attracted great schools of the fierce 
sharks that abound in the waters of the tropics. Then a new horror 
was added to the scene. At a moment when the barges wavered and 
floated for a moment without motion. Porter ordered his gunners to load 
with solid shot. Two or three broadsides rang out ; and, when the smoke 
cleared away, two barges were seen to be sinking. The affrighted crews 
bent to their oars, and strained every muscle to reach the shore ; but 
while yet in deep water, the barges sunk, and the Picaroons were left 
floundering in the sea. All struck out manfully for the shore ; but sud- 
denly one sprung half from the water, and with a horrid yell sunk from 
sight. One after another disappeared in the same way ; for the sharks 
had tasted blood, and were not to be appeased. For seven hours the 
conflict raged fiercely ; but at last the Picaroons confessed themselves 
beaten, and sullenly relinquished their attacks upon the "E.xperiment." 
But they were not to be wholly robbed of their plunder ; and two 
merchant-vessels fell a prey to their piratical violence, before a breeze, 
springing up, enabkd the squadron to escape. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 267 

Before the year was over, the Picaroons had another serious defeat to 
mourn over; and on this second occasion they were well punished for 
their many piracies. The " Boston," a twenty-eight-gun ship, was con- 
voying a merchant-brig to Port au Prince, when the lookout discovered 
nine large barges skulking along the shore, ready to pounce upon the two 
vessels when a favorable moment should arrive. Porter was again in com- 
mand. His tactics were at once determined upon ; and the ports of the 
"Boston" were closed, and the ship thoroughly disguised. The Picaroons 
were deceived sufficiently to make a dash upon the two ships, and approach 
boldly within easy gun-shot ; then, discovering their mistake, they turned 
and fled in panic. This time no calm hampered the ship-of-war ; and, making 
all sail, she dashed into their midst. For two hours she kept within easy 
range of the barges ; and her gunners, working deliberately, did fearful 
execution in the ranks of the enemy, and sunk three barges before the 
wretched fugitives could reach the shore. After dealing out this summary 
justice, the "Boston" continued her voyage, and, after leaving her convoy 
in the port of her destination, began a cruise about the islands and the 
Spanish Main. In the course of this cruise she met the French corvette 
" Le Berccau," which struck after a plucky action of two hours. The 
Frenchman was badly cut up in hull and rigging, and shortly after the 
surrender her fore and main masts went by the board. The " Boston " 
was but little injured, and took her prize safely into port. 

After this the fighting was chiefly confined to short, sharp affrays 
between the smaller United States ships and the French privateers, which 
were generally good sailers and well manned, although deficient in metal. 
The great frigates like the " Constellation " found no more adversaries 
worthy of their fighting qualities, and only the sloops and topsail-schooners 
gave their crews a chance to smell gunpowder. Some of these smaller 
actions, however, were sharp and gallant, although their details have not 
been preserved like those of the famous naval duels. 

The " E.xperiment," after her adventure with the Picaroons, fought 

two gallant battles, and was successful in each, although the second for 

a time threatened to lead to international difficulties. While cruising on 

her station, the vessel made two sail, which, as they came nearer, proved 

to be a brig of eighteen guns and a three-masted schooner of twenty 

guns, both flying the French tricolor, and both intent on mischief. The 
10 -^ 



268 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



American fled, but laid her course in such a way as to separate the two 
pursuers. When night had fallen, Lieut.-Commander Stewart, who com- 
manded the " Experiment," saw that the enemy's forces were divided by 
about a league of green water, and at once determined to strike a blow. 
Doubling on his course, he ran his vessel alongside the schooner, and 
poured in two or three broadsides with such rapidity and haste that the 
Frenchman struck before his consort could come to his aid. Hastily 
tlirowing Lieut. Porter and a prize-crew aboard the prize, Stewart dashed 
off after the brig, which fled incontinently, and proved too good a sailer 
to be overtaken. Pure audacity had carried the day for the " Experi- 
ment," for the brig was powerful enough to have blown her pursuer to 
b'ts in a short engagement. 

The second exploit of the " Experiment " was no less gallant than 
this, but in the end proved far less satisfactory. Late in a summer's 
afternoon a suspicious sail was made ; and the chase, begun at once, had 
continued until nightfall. When darkness settled over the ocean, Stewart 
calculated the course laid by the stranger, and ordered his helmsman 
to keep the ship on that course until midnight, when, if the fugitive wa.s 
not overhauled, the chase would be abandoned. Just before midnight a 
sail was seen near by and to windward. The men were sent to quarters ; 
and with guns shotted, and battle-lanterns burning, the " Experiment " 
ran up under the stranger's lee, and hailed. No answer was returned. 
Perplexed and irritated, Stewart ordered a shot fired into the stranger, 
which was no sooner done than a broadside was returned, which made 
the schooner reel. Both vessels were then plunged into conflict, though 
neither knew the name or nationality of the opponent. For a time the 
"Experiment" was handicapped by the hca\y wind, which laid her over 
so far that her guns were elevated skyward, and her shot whistled through 
the enemy's tops. To obviate this, planks were thrust under the breeches 
of the guns, until at last the proper range was secured, when an active 
cannonade soon forced the stranger to strike. Lieut. Porter was sent 
to take possession of the prize ; but the report he brought back put all 
thought of prize-money out of the minds of the victors, for the stranger 
was a Bermudian privateer, flying the British flag, and under the protec- 
tion of a nation with which the United States was at peace. The fault 
/ay with the privateers for not responding to the hail, but the Americans 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1811. 269 

did all in their power to repair the damage done. All the next day they 
lay by their vanquished, adversary, and the sailors of two ships worked 
side by side in patching up the injuries done by the shot. By night the 
privateer was able to continue her cruise, resolving, doubtless, to avoid 
future conflicts with the ships of the American navy. 

But to enter into the details of each of the naval duels of the French 
war of 1798, would require a volume devoted exclusively to its considera- 
tion. Although there was never a declaration of war between the two 
countries, yet the warfare on the ocean was earnest, and even desperate. 
Both nations went to work with a will, and the results were of incalcu- 
lable benefit to the then pygmy navy of the United States. In their 
newspapers the Americans read with wonder and pride of the successes 
of their new vessels and young sailors, against the trained seamen and 
best frigates of France. When the war closed, the country rang with the 
praises of the blue-jackets. Indeed, a record of sixty-four French vessels 
captured, besides many American vessels which were recaptured from 
their captors, was enough to arouse feelings of pride throughout the 
nation ; and the celerity with which France seized upon the proposal 
for peace showed well the reputation which our navy had gained beyond 
the ocean. For months after the peace was signed, the nam^s of Bain- 
bridge, Truxton, Stewart, and Talbot were household words throughout 
the nation ; and the deeds of the gallant ships along the Spanish Main 
were the favorite stories of the boys of the land. Three of the oaken 
veterans, however, never came home ; but against their names must be put 
the saddest of all naval records : foundered at sea. The captured " Insur- 
gente," the "Saratoga," and the "Pickering" simply vanished from the 
ocean. Over fourscore years have passed ; and of them, and the gallant 
lads that manned them, nothing has ever been known. Whether they 
perished by the fury of the tropical typhoon, whether a midnight col- 
lision sent them suddenly to the bottom, or whether the ships were 
destroyed and the crews murdered by the piratical desperadoes of the 
West Indies, can never be known. Somewhere on the coral-strewn beci 
of the blue seas of the tropics lie the mouldering hulks of those good 
ships, and the bones of their gallant crews. There will they lie, unknown 
and unsought, until earthly warfare is over for all men, and the sea gives 
up its dead. 




CHAPTER III. 



PROPOSED REDUCTION OF THE NAVY. — RENEWAL OF BRITISH OUTRAGES. — THE AFFAIR OF 
THE "BALTIMORE." — ATTACK ON THE " LEANDER." — ENCOUNTER BETWEEN THE "CHES- 
APEAKE" AND "LEOPARD." 




OT many months had elapsed after the close of the war between 
the United States and F"rance, when the pride of the nation 
in the navy that had won such laurels in that conflict began 
to wane. In the place of poems and editorials singing the 
praises and pointing out the value of the navy, the newspapers began 
to be filled with demands for its reduction. It was an unwarrantable 
expense, exclaimed the critics of the press, for a nation so young, and so 
far from the warring peoples of Europe, to maintain a navy at all. A 
few gunboats to guard the coast would be enough. All the consequences 
of the reduction of the navy at the close of the Revolution were tor- 
gotten in an instant. A penny-wise and pound-foolish spirit came over 
all the political leaders ; and the Democratic party, then newly come into 
power, determined to endear itself to the hearts of the people by cutting 
down the expenses of the Government, and to this end they attacked 
first the appropriations for the navy. A gallant fight was made against 
the total abolition of the navy ; and finally it was decided to retain thir- 
teen of the ships-of-war on the list, while the others should be sold. 
270 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 271 

With these thirteen vessels, of which the most noted were the "Consti- 
tution," the "Constellation," and the "United States," the navy was 
placed upon a peace footing. Even this moderate squadron, however, 
brought out much opposition from economically minded statesmen ; but 
the aggressions of the Barbary pirates, and the war with Tripoli which 
opened in 1801, gave the sailor lads active employment, and for the time 
the outcry of the economists against the navy ceased. 

Of the various wars with Tripoli and the other states of Barbary, we 
have already given some account. The political bearing of the Tripol- 
itan war upon the war which afterwards followed with Great Britain was 
slight ; but, as discipline for the sterner reality of naval warfare with the 
nation long reputed to be " mistress of the seas," the experience of 
the Yankee tars with the turbaned infidels was invaluable. 

Let us, then, return to the shameful recountal of the injuries com- 
mitted by the British upon the American flag on the high seas. Even 
while the United States was at war with France, and thus aiding the 
British, the outrages never ceased. American sailors were still impressed. 
American vessels were boarded, and often seized, on the slightest pre- 
texts. Even the ships of the Government were not exempt, for the 
British respected no right save that of greater power. 

It was in November, 1798, that the United States sloop-of-war "Bal- 
timore," of twenty guns, and under command of Capt. Phillips, was in 
charge of a convoy of merchantmen bound to Havana. On the morning 
of the i6th of that month, the sloop, with her convoy, were in sight of 
their destination, and could even see the solid, towering walls of the 
Moro, rising high above the low-lying shores about Havana. The breeze 
was fresh and fair ; and all hands expected to cast anchor before night 
in the beautiful bay, on the shores of which stands the chief city of the 
island of fruits and spices. On the " Baltimore " the jackies were busily 
at work holystoning the decks, until they glistened with the milky white- 
ness dear to the eye of the .sailor of the days before the era of yellow 
pine or black, unsightly iron shijis. The shrouds and standing rigging 
had been pulled taut with many a " Yo, heave ho!" until the wind 
hummed plaintively through the taut cordage, as through the resounding 
strings of an /Eolian harp. The brasswork and polished breeches of the 
guns were polished by the vigorous rubbing by muscular sailors, until they 
shone again. AH told of a coming season in a friendly port. 



272 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 



While the work of preparation for port was thus going busily on, the 
lookout hailed the deck, and reported a squadron in sight. A moment's 
glance convinced Capt. Phillips that the strangers were British war-vessels ; 

and, as they were still accus- 
tomed to anno}' American mer- 
chantmen, he hastily signajled 
his convoy to carry sail hard, 
and make port before the Brit- 
ish came up, while the " Balti- 
more" bore up to speak to the 
British commodore. 

Before the merchantmen 
could escape, however, the 
British cut off three of them, 
under some peculiar and mis- 
taken ideas of the law of 
blockades. More than this, 
when Capt. Phillips paid his 
visit to the English commo- 
dore in the latter's cabin, he 
/ / m\ iT3^i^^'''?''lF^^S^^' ^'"^^X^i— - W'^^ calmly informed 

I \ \ V?*4\^'^^B85SSi^SteSEi';' 1^, • that it was intended 

to take from the 
" Baltimore" into the 
British service every 
sailor who had not a 
regular American pro- 
tection ; this undef 
the new English doc- 
trine, that every sail- 
or was an Englishman unless proved to be otherwise. The avowal by the 
British captain of this intention filled Phillips with indignation, and he 
warmly protested against any such action. 

It would, he insisted, be an outrage on the dignity of the nation which 
he served ; and, as the overpowering force of the British rendered re- 
sistance impossible, he should insist upon surrendering his ship should 




i 



rf 



THE BRITISH SQUADRON. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 273 

they persist in their undertaking, which was no more nor less than open 
warfare. With this he arose from his scat, and leaving the cabin, to 
which he had been invited as the guest of a friendly nation, returned to 
his own ship. 

Here he found a state of affairs that still further added to his indig- 
nation. At the foot of the gangway of the "Baltimore" floated a boat 
from one of the British ships, and on the deck of the sloop was a lieu- 
tenant in British uniform in the act of mustering the American crew. 
Capt. Phillips at once seized the muster-roll, and ordered the officious 
Briton to walk to leeward, while the crew of the " Baltimore " were sent 
to their quarters. 

But, having done this, he became doubtful as to the course for him 
to pursue. Successful resistance was out of the question ; for he was 
surrounded by five British vessels, one of which carried ninety-eight 
guns, while the smallest mounted thirty-two, or twelve more than the 
"Baltimore." Even had the odds against him been less great, CaptJ 
Phill-ps felt grave doubts as to his authority to resist any armed vessel. 
He had sailed under instructions that " the vessels of every other nation 
(France excepted) are on no account to be molested ; and I wish par- 
ticularly to impress upon your mind," wrote the Secretary of the Navy, 
"that should you ever see an American vessel captured by the armed 
shijj of any nation at war, with whom we are at peace, you cannot law- 
fully interfere, for it is to be taken for granted that such nation will 
compensate for such capture, if it should prove to have been illegally 
made." After some deliberation over this clause in his instructions, 
Capt. Phillips concluded that for him to make even a formal resistance 
would be illegal ; and accordingly the flag of the " Baltimore " was low- 
ered, and the British were told that the ship was at their disposal. They 
immediately seized upon fifty-five men from the American crew, who 
were taken away to the British fleet. But in this wholesale impressment 
they did not persist. Fifty of the men were sent back ; and the squadron 
set sail, carrying away the five pressed men, and leaving the men of the 
"Baltimore," from the captain down to the smallest cabin-boy, smarting 
under the sense of an indignity and insult offered to the flag under which 
they served. 

Capt. Phillips hoisted his flag again, and continued his cruise. News 



2 74 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

travelled slowly in those days ; and the tidings of this latest British insult 
did not reach the United States until the " Baltimore," returning home, 
brought it herself. Hardly had the ship reached port, when Capt. Phil- 
lips hastened to Philadelphia, then the national capital, and laid his 
report of the affair before the Government. In a week's time, without 
even the formality of a trial, he was dismissed from the navy. 

After the lapse of more than eighty years it is impossible to look 
back upon this affair without indignation, mortification, and regret. That 
the naval officers of Great Britain should have been able, by the mere 
force of arms, to inflict so cruel an insult upon our flag, can but arouse 
indignation in the breast of every true American. And the humiliation 
was great enough, without having added to it the obviously hasty and 
unjust action of the authorities, in dismissing, without a trial, an officer 
who had faithfully served his country. It is indeed possible that Capt. 
Phillips erred gravely in his course; but justice alone demanded for him 
a fair trial, and the nature of his instructions certainly afforded him 
some justification for his action. 

The years that opened the nineteenth century were full of events that 
exerted the greatest influence over the growth of the United States. 
The continuance of the Napoleonic wars in Europe, our own war with the 
Barbary powers, the acquisition of Louisiana, — all these had their effect 
on the growth of the young Republic of the West. But, at the same time, 
England was continuing her policy of oppression. Her cruisers and priva- 
teers swarmed upon the ocean ; and impressment of seamen and seizure 
of vessels became so common, that in 1S06 memorials and jjetitions from 
seamen and merchants of the seaport towns poured in upon Congress, 
begging that body to take some action to save American commerce from 
total destruction. Congress directed the American minister in London 
to protest ; but to no avail. Even while the correspondence on the subject 
was being carried on, the British gave renewed evidence of their hostility 
to their former Colonies, and their scorn for the military or naval power 
of the United States. From the far-off shores of the Mediterranean came 
the news that boats from the fleet of the British Admiral Collingwood 
had boarded the United States gunboat No. 7, and taken from her three 
sailors, under the pretence that they were Englishmen. But an occurrence 
that shortly followed, nearer home, threw this affair into oblivion, and still 
further inflamed the national hatred of the English. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 275 

A small coasting sloop, one of hundreds that made voyages along the 
American coast from Portland to Savannah, was running past Sandy 
Hook into New York Bay, when she was hailed by the British ship 
" Leander," and ordered to heave to. The captain of the coaster paid 
no attention to the order, and continued on his way, until a shot from 
the cruiser crashed into the sloop, and took off the head of the cap- 
tain, John Pearce of New York. This was murder, and the action of 
the British in firing upon the sloop was gross piracy. Such an outrage, 
occurring so near the chief city of the United States, aroused a storm 
of indignation. The merchants of New York held meetings at the old 
Tontine Coffee-House, and denounced not only the action of the British 
cruiser, but even impeached the Government of the United States ; de- 
claring that an administration which suffered foreign armed ships to 
" impress, wound, and murder citizens was not entitled to the confidence 
of a brave and free people." The fact that the captain of the offending 
cruiser, on being brought to trial in England, was honorably acquitted, 
did not tend to soothe the irritation of the Americans. 

Occurrences such as this kept alive the American dislike for the Eng- 
lish, and a year later an event happened which even the most ardent 
peace-lover could not but condemn and resent with spirit. 

In 1807 the United States frigate "Chesapeake," then lying at the 
navy-yard at Washington, was put in commission, and ordered to the Medi- 
terranean, to relieve the "Constitution." Nearly a month was consumed 
in making necessary repairs to hull and cordage, taking in stores, shipping 
a crew, and attending to the thousand and one details of preparation for 
sea that a long time out of commission makes necessary to a man-of-war. 
While the preparations for service were actively proceeding, the British 
minister informed the naval authorities that three deserters from His British 
Majesty's ship "Melampus" had joined the crew of the "Chesapeake;" 
and it was requested that they should be given up. The request was 
made with due courtesy ; and, although there is no principle of inter- 
national law which directs the surrender of deserters, yet the United 
States, as a friendly nation, was inclined to grant the request, and an 
inquiry was made into the case. The facts elicited put the surrender of 
the men out of the question ; for though they frankly confessed to have 
deserted from the "Melampus," yet they claimed to have been imjjressed 



2;6 BLUE-JACKETS OF i8i 



into the British service, and proved conclusively that they were free 
Americans. This was reported to the British minister ; and, as he made 
no further protests, it was assumed that he was satisfied. 

Some weeks later the vessel left the navy-yard, and dropped down the 
river to Hampton Roads. Even with the long period occupied in prepa- 
ration for sea, the armament of the ship was far from being in order ; a 
fact first discovered as she passed Mount Vernon, as she was unable to 
fire the salute with which at that time all passing war-vessels did honor 
to the tomb of Washington. After some days' stay at Hampton Roads, 
during which time additional guns and stores were taken on, and the 
crew increased to three hundred and seventy-five men, the ship got under 
way, and started on her voyage. 

It was on a breezy morning of June that the "Chesapeake" left the 
broad harbor of Hampton Roads, the scene of so many of our naval 
glories. From the masthead of the frigate floated the broad pennant of 
Commodore Barron, who went out in command of the ship. The decks 
were littered with ropes, lumber, and stores, which had arrived too late 
to be properly stowed away. Some confusion is but natural on a ship 
starting on a cruise which may continue for years, but the condition of 
the "Chesapeake" was beyond all excuse; a fact for which the fitting-out 
officers, not her commander, were responsible. 

As the American ship passed out into the open ocean, there was a 
great stir on the decks of four English cruisers that lay quietly at anchor 
in Lynn Haven Bay ; and almost immediately one of these vessels hoisted 
her anchor, set her sails, and started out in the track of the frigate. A 
stiff head-wind blowing, the American was forced to tack frequently, in 
order to get ahead ; and her officers noticed that the British ship (the 
" Leopard," of fifty guns) tacked at the same time, and was evidently 
following doggedly in the wake of the "Chesapeake." No suspicion that 
the pursuer had other than peaceful motives in view entered the minds 
of the American officers ; and the ship kept on her course, while the 
sailors set about putting the decks in order, and getting the vessel in 
trim for her long voyage. While all hands were thus busily engaged, 
the " Leopard " bore down rapidly, and soon hailed, saying that she had 
a despatch for Commodore Barron. The "Chesapeake" accordingly hove 
to, and waited for a boat to be sent aboard. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 3/7 

The two ships now lay broadside to broadside, and only about a half 
pistol-shot apart. No idea that the Englishman had any hostile designs 
seems to have occurred to Commodore Barron ; but some of the younger 
officers noticed that the ports of the " Leopard " were triced up, and the 
tompions taken out of the muzzles of the cannon. The latter fact was 
of the gravest import, and should have been reported at once to the 
commander ; but it appears that this was not done. 

In a few moments a boat put off from the " Leopard," and pulled to 
the American ship, where an officer stood waiting at the gangway, and 
conducted the visitor to Barron's cabin. Here the English lieutenant pro- 
duced an order, signed by the British Admiral Berkeley, commanding all 
British ships to watch for the " Chesapeake," and search her for deserters. 
Commodore Barron immediately responded, that the " Chesapeake " har- 
bored no deserters, and he could not permit his crew to be mustered by 
the officer of any foreign power. Hardly had this response been made, when 
a signal from the " Leopard " recalled the boarding officer to his ship. 

The officers of the "Chesapeake" were now fully aroused to the 
dangers of the situation, and began the attempt to get the ship in readi- 
ness for action. Commodore Barron, coming out of his cabin for the first 
time, was forcibly struck by the air of preparation for action presented 
by the " Leopard." Capt. Gordon, the second in command, was ordered 
to hasten the work on the gun-deck, and call the crew to quarters. The 
drummers began to beat the call to quarters, but hasty orders soon 
stopped them ; and the men went to their places quietly, hoping that the 
threatening attitude of the " Leopard " was mere bravado. 

The most painful suspense was felt by all on board the American 
ship. The attitude of the " Leopard " left little doubt of her hostile 
intentions, while a glance about the decks of the " Chesapeake " told how 
little fitted she was to enter into action. Her crew was a new one, never 
exercised at the guns, and had been mustered to quarters only three 
times. On the gun-deck lay great piles of cumbrous cables, from the 
coiling of which the men had been summoned by the call to quarters. 
On the after-deck were piles of furniture, trunks, and some temporary 
pantries. What little semblance of order there was, was due to the efforts 
of one of the lieutenants, who, suspecting trouble when the " Leopard " 
first came up, had made great exertions toward getting the ship clear, 



278 BLUE-JACKETS OF 181 2. 

While the captain stood looking ruefully at the confusion, still more 
serious troubles were reported. The guns were loaded ; but no rammers, 
powder-flasks, matches, wads, or gun-locks could be found. While search 
was being made for these necessary articles, a hail came from the "Leopard." 
Commodore Barron shouted back that he did not understand. 

" Commodore Barron must be aware that the orders of the vice-admiral 
must be obeyed," came the hail again. 

Barron again responded that he did not understand. After one or two 
repetitions, the British determined to waste no more time in talking ; 
and a single shot fired from the bow of the " Leopard " was quickly 
followed by a full broadside. The heavy shot crashed iuto the sides of 
the " Chesapeake," wounding many of the men, and adding to the con- 
fiision on the gun-deck. No answer came from the American frigate ; 
for, though the guns were loaded, there was no way of firing them. 
Matches, locks, or loggerheads were nowhere to be found. Mad with 
rage at the helpless condition in which they found themselves, the officers 
made every effort to fire at least one volley. Pokers were heated red- 
hot in the galley-fire, and carried hastily to the guns, but cooled too 
rapidly in the rush across the deck. In the mean time, the " Leopard," 
none too chivalric to take advantage of an unresisting foe, had chosen 
her position, and was pouring in a deliberate fire. For nearly eighteen 
minutes the fire was continued, when the flag of the "Chesapeake" was 
hauled down. Just as it came fluttering from the masthead, Lieut. Allen, 
crying, " I'll have one shot at those rascals, anyhow," ran to the galley, 
picked up a live coal in his fingers, and carried it, regardless of the pain, 
to the nearest gun, which was successfully discharged. This was the only 
shot that the "Chesapeake" fired during the affair, — battle it cannot be 
called. 

A boat with two British lieutenants and several mid.shipmen on board 
speedily boarded the " Chesapeake," and the demand for the deserters was 
renewed. Four seamen were seized, and borne away in triumph ; but the 
British commander refused to receive the ship as a prize, and even went 
so far as to express his regret at the loss of life, and proffer his aid in 
repairing the damages. Both sympathy and assistance were indignantly 
rejected ; and the disgraced ship went sullenly back to Norfolk, bearing 
a sorely mortified body of officers and seamen. Of the four kidnapped 




THB ONLY SHOT OH THE " CHtSAPHAKfi ■ 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



279 



sailors, it may be stated here, that one was hanged, and the other three 
forced to enter the British service, in which one died. His comrades, 
five years later, were restored to the deck of the ship from which they 
had been taken. 

The news of this event spread like wildfire over the country, and 
caused rage and resentment wherever it was known. Cities, towns. 




LIEUT. ALLEN FIRES A SHOT. 



and villages called for revenge. The President issued a proclamation, 
complaining of the habitual insolence of British cruisers, and ordering ail 
such vessels to leave American waters forthwith. As in the reduced 
state of the navy it was impossible to enforce this order, he forbade all 
citizens of the United States to give aid to, or have any intercourse 
with, any such vessels or their crews. War measures were taken both 



28o BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

by the Federal and State Governments. As usual, the popular wrath was 
vented upon the least culpable of the people responsible for the condition 
of the "Chesapeake." Commodore Barron was tried by court-martial, and 
sentenced to five years' suspension from the service, without pay. The 
cool judgment of later years perceives the unjustness of this sentence, 
but its execution cast a deep shadow over the remainder of the unhappy 
officer's life. 

For some years after this episode, little occurred to change the rela- 
tions of the two nations. The war spirit grew slowly, and was kept 
alive by the occasional reports of impressments, or the seizure of Ameri- 
can ships by British privateers. The navy held its place amid the national 
defences, although a plan devised by President Jefferson came near putting 
an end to the old organization. This plan provided for the construction 
of great numbers of small gunboats, which should be stationed along 
the coast, to be called out only in case of attack by an armed enemy. 
A contemporary writer, describing the beauties of this system, wrote, 
" Whenever danger shall menace any harbor, or any foreign ship shall 
insult us, somebody is to inform the governor, and the governor is to 
desire the marshal to call upon the captains of militia to call upon the 
drummers to beat to arms, and call the militia men together, from whom 
are to be drafted (not impressed) a sufficient number to go on board 
the gunboats, and drive the hostile stranger away, unless during this 
long ceremonial he should have taken himself off." Fortunately the 
gunboat system did not work the total extinction of the old navy. 

In 181 1 the British aggressions began again, and the situation became 
more and more warlike. So bold had the privateers become, that they 
captured a richly laden vessel within thirty miles of New York. Shortly 
after, the British frigate " Guerriere " stopped an American brig eighteen 
miles from New York, and took from her a young sailor. The sea was 
running very rough, and a stiff breeze blowing, when the " Spitfire " was 
halted by the frigate ; but the American captain went with the captured 
lad to the war-vessel, and assured the commander that he had known the 
young man as a native of Maine from his boyhood. The reply was, " All 
that may be so ; but he has no protection, and that is enough for me." 
With these memories fresh, it is not surprising that Americans rejoiced 
when the news of an encounter terminating in favor of the United States 
ship was received. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 281 

On May 7, 181 1, the United States frigate "President" was lying 
quietly at anchor off Fort Severn, Annapolis. Every thing betokened a 
state of perfect peace. The muzzles of the great guns were stopped by 
tompions. The ports were down. In the rigging of the vessel hung 
garments drying in the sun. At the side floated half a dozen boats. 
Many of the crew were ashore on leave. The sailing-master was at Bal- 
timore, and the chaplain and purser were at Washington. From the 
masthead floated the broad pennant of Commodore Rodgers, but he was 
with his family at Havre de Grace ; and the executive officer, Capt. Lud- 
!ow, was dining on the sloop-of-war " Argus," lying near at hand. But 
the captain's dinner was destined to be interrupted that bright May 
afternoon ; for in the midst of the repast a midshipman entered, and 
reported that the commodore's gig was coming up rapidly, with Rodgers 
himself on board. The dinner party was hastily broken up, and the 
captain returned to his ship to receive his superior officer. On his 
arrival, Commodore Rodgers said that he had received orders to chase 
the frigate that had impressed the sailor from the " Spitfire," and insist 
upon the man's being liberated, if he could prove his citizenship. This 
was good news for every man on the frigate. At last, then, the United 
States was going to protect its sailors. 

Three days were spent in getting the crew together and preparing for 
sea ; then the stately frigate, with all sails set and colors flying, weighed 
anchor, and stood down the Chesapeake with the intention of cruising 
near New York. She had been out on the open ocean only a day, when 
the lookout, from his perch in the crosstrees, reported a strange sail on 
the horizon. The two vessels appoached each other rapidly ; and, as the 
stranger drew near, Rodgers saw, by the squareness of her yards and 
the general trim, symmetrical cut of her sails, that she was a war-vessel. 
Perhaps she may be the offender, thought he, and watched eagerly her 
approach. 

As the stranger came up, the " President " set her broad pennant and 
ensign ; on seeing which the stranger hoisted several signal flags, the 
significance of which was not understood by the Americans. Finding her 
signals unanswered, the stranger wore ship, and bore away to the south- 
ward, hotly followed by the " President." During all these manoeuvres, 
Rodgers's suspicion of the strange vessel had increased ; and her apparent 



282 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 

flight only convinced him the more of the hostile character of the 
stranger. It was a stern chase and a long one, for at the outset 
the stranger was hull down on the horizon. After an hour it became 
evident that the " President " was gaining, for the hull of the fugitive 
was plainly seen. The breeze then died away, so that night had fallen 
over the waters before the ships were within hailing distance. 

A little after eight in the evening the " President " was within a 
hundred yards of the chase, which could be seen, a dark mass with 
bright lights shining through the rows of open ports, rushing through 
the water directly ahead. Rodgers sprang upon the taffrail, and put- 
ting a speaking-trumpet to his lips, shouted, " What ship is that .' '' 
A dead silence followed. Those on the " President " listened intently 
for the answer ; but no sound was heard save the sigh of the wind 
through the cordage, the creaking of the spars, and the rush of the 
water alongside. Rodgers hailed again ; and, before the sound of his 
words had died away, a quick flash of fire leaped from the stern-ports of 
the chase, and a shot whizzed through the rigging of the " President," 
doing some slight damage. Rodgers sprang to the deck to order a shot 
in return ; but, before he could do so, a too eager gunner pulled the 
lanyard of his piece in the second division of the "President's" battery. 
The enemy promptly answered with three guns, and then let fly a whole 
broadside, with discharges of musketry from the deck and the tops. 
This exhausted Rodgers's patience. " Equally determined," said he after- 
wards, " not to be the aggressor, or to suffer the flag of my country to 
be insulted with impunity, I gave a general order to fire." This time 
there was no defect in the ordnance or the gunnery of the American 
ship. The thunderous broadsides rang out at regular intervals, and the 
aim of the gunners was deliberate and deadly. It was too dark to see 
what effect the fire was having on the enemy, but in five minutes her 
responses began to come slowly and feebly. Unwilling to continue his 
attack on a ship evidently much his inferior in size and armament, 
Rodgers ordered the guinurs to cease firing; but this had hardly been 
done when the stranger opened again. A second time the guns of the 
"President" were run out, and again they began their cannonade. The 
stranger was soon silenced again ; and Commodore Rodgers hailed, that 
he might learn the name of his adversary. In answer came a voice 
!;om the other vessel, — 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



283 



"We are his Majesty's ship ." A gust of wind carried away the 

name, and Rodgers was still in doubt as to whom he had been fighting. 
Hoisting a number of bright lights in her rigging, that the stranger might 




COMMODOKIi KODGERS HAILS 



know her whcrcahouts, the " President " stood off and on during the 
ni ;h,t, ready to give aid to the disabled ship in case of need. 

At early dawn every officer was on deck, anxious to learn the fate ot 
their foe of the night before. Far in the distance they could see a ship, 



284 BLUE-JACKETS OF iSiiz. 

whose broken cordage and evident disorder showed her to have l^een 
the other party to the fight. A boat from the " President " visited the 
stranger, to learn her name and to proffer aid in repairing the damages 
received in the action. The sliip proved to be the British sloop-of-wai 
" Little Belt ; " and her captain stated that she was much damaged in her 
masts, sails, rigging, and hull, and had been cut several times between 
wind and water. He declined the proffered aid, however, and sailed 
away to Halifax, the nearest British naval station. Commodore Rodgers 
took the " President " to the nearest American port. 

When the "President" reached home, and the news of her exploit 
became known, the exultation of the people was great, and their com- 
mendations of Rodgers loud. "At last," they cried, "we have taught 
England a lesson. The insult to the ' Chesapeake ' is now avenged." 
Rodgers protested that he had been forced unwillingly into the combat, 
but his admirers insisted that he had left port with the intention of 
humbling the pride of some British ship. Indeed, the letter of an officer 
on the "President," printed in "The New York Herald" at the time, rather 
supported this theory. "By the officers who came from Washington," 
wrote this gentleman, " we learn that we are sent in pursuit of a British 
frigate, who had impressed a passenger from a coaster. Yesterday, while 
beating down the bay, we spoke a brig coming up, who informed us that 
she saw the British frigate the day before off the very place where v e 
now are ; but she is not now in sight. We have made the most com- 
plete preparations for battle. Every one wishes it. She is exactly our 
force ; but we have the " Argus " with us, which none of us are pleased 
with, as we wish a fair trial of courage and skill. Should we see her, 
I have not the least doubt of an engagement. The commodore will 
demand the person impressed ; the demand will doubtless be refused, and 
the battle will instantly commence. . . . The commodore has called in the 
boatswain, gunner, and carpenter, informed them of all circumstances, 
and asked if they were ready for action. Ready, was the reply of 
each." 

No consequences beyond an intensifying of the war spirit in America 
followed this rencounter. Before dismissing the subject, however, it is 
but fair to state that the account as given here is in substance Commo- 
dore Rodgers's version of the matter. The British captain's report was 



BLUR-JACKETS OF 1812. 285 

quite different. He insisted that the " President " fired the first shot, 
that the action continued nearly an hour, that it was his hail to which 
no attention was paid, and finally he intimated that the "President" had 
rather the worse of the encounter. The last statement is easily disproved, 
for the "President" was almost unscathed, and the only injury to her 
people was the slight wounding of a boy, in the hand. On the " Little 
Belt," thirty-one were killed or wounded. The other points led to a 
simple question of veracity between the two officers. Each government 
naturally accepted the report of its officer; and, so far as the governments 
were concerned, the matter soon passed into oblivion. 

Not long after this episode, a somewhat similar occurrence took place, 
but was happily attended with no such serious consequences. The frig- 
ate " United States," cruising under the broad pennant of Commodore 
Decatur, fell in with two British ships near New York. While the com- 
manders of the vessels were amicably hailing, a gun was suddenly fired 
from the battery of the " United States," owing to the carelessness of 
a gunner in handling the lanyard. It was a critical moment, for the 
British would have been justified in responding to the fire with broad- 
sides. Happily, they were cool and discreet, and Decatur made such 
explanations as showed that no attack or insult was intended. This little 
incident is interesting, as showing the distrust of the British which led 
an American captain to keep his guns primed and cocked, while convers- 
ing with English men-of-war. 

Another incident showed that the hatred of the British service that 
prevailed among seamen was a matter of deep-seated conviction. While 
the United States ship "Essex" was lying in an English port, it became 
known that one of her crew was a deserter from the British navy, and 
his surrender was immediately demanded. Although the man stoutly 
protested that he was an American, yet no proof could be shown ; and, 
as the ship was in British waters, it was determined to surrender him. 
A British officer and squad of marines boarded the " Essex " and waited 
on the deck while the sailor went below to get his kit. Bitterly com- 
[ilaining of the hardness of his fate, the poor fellow went along the gun- 
decks until he passed the carpenter's bench. His eye fell upon an axe ; 
and after a minute's hesitation he stepped to the bench, seized the a.\e in 

his right hand, and with one blow cut off the left. Carrying the severed 
13 



286 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

member in his hand, he again sought the deck and presented himself, 
maimed, bleeding, and forever useless as a sailor, to the British officer. 
Astonished and horrified, that worthy left the ship, and the wounded 
man was sent to the sick-bay. The incident was a forcible commentary 
on the state of the British service at that time, and left a deep impres- 
sion on the minds of all beholders. 

In the next contest over deserters, however, the Americans rather 
secured the best of the argument. The "Constitution" was lying at 
anchor in Portsmouth roads, when one of the crew slily slipped overboard 
and swam down with the tide to the British ship "Madagascar" that 
lay at anchor near by. When he had reached the Englishman, he was 
too exhausted to speak ; and the officers, supposing that he had fallen 
overboard accidentally, sent word to the " Constitution " that her man 
had been saved, and awaited the orders of his commander. The next 
morning a boat was sent down to the "Madagascar" to fetch the man 
back ; but, to the astonishment of the visiting officer, he was told that 
the sailor claimed to be a British subject and wished to escape from the 
American service. 

"Have you any evidence," asked the American officer of the British 
admiral, " beyond the man's own word, that he is an Englishman ? " 

"None whatever, sir," was the response, "but we are obliged to take 
his declaration to that effect." 

The American officer returned to his ship, vowing vengeance on the 
harborers of the deserter. His opportunity came that very night. 

In the dead watches of the night, when all was still on deck save 
the monotonous tramp of the sentries, there suddenly rang out on the 
still air the sharp crack of a musket. The officer of the deck rushed to 
see what was the matter, and was shown a dark object floating near the 
ship, at which a sentry had fired. A boat was lowered and soon came 
back, bringing in it a sailor who had deserted from the " Madagascar," 
and reached the "Constitution" by swimming. Capt. Hull asked the 
fellow his nationality. 

" Sure, O'im a 'Merricun, your honor," he answered in a rich brogue 
that would have branded him as a Paddy in any part of the world. 
With a twinkle in his eye, Hull sent the Irishman below, and told the 
sailors to take good care of him. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 287 

Early in the morning, a boat came from the " Madagascar ; " and a 
trim young Heutenant, clambering aboard the American frigate, politely 
requested that the deserter be given up. With great dignity, Capt. 
Hull responded that the man was a citizen of the United States, and 
should have protection. The visiting officer fairly gasped for breath. 
" An American ! " he exclaimed. " Why, the man has never been out 
of Ireland except on a British man-of-war." 

" Indeed ! " responded Hull blandly. " But we have his statement 
that he is an American, and we are obliged to take his declaration to 
that effect." And the man was never given up. 

During the day, two British frigates cast anchor so near the "Con- 
stitution " that Capt. Hull suspected them of hostile intentions, and 
moved his ship to a new anchorage. A frigate followed closely in her 
wake. At eight in the evening, Capt. Hull determined to meet the show 
of force with force. The drums beat, and the men were called to quar- 
ters. The battle-lanterns were lighted fore and aft. The tops were 
crowded with sailors, armed with short carbines, to pick off the men on 
the enemy's decks. Along the gun-deck stood the men at the guns ; and 
an officer, describing the scene, says they took hold of the ropes as if 
they were about to jerk the guns through the ship's sides. All were 
enthusiastic over the prospect of the coming action. 

"Now, then, my lads," said an officer to a group of sailors, "if a 
fight comes of this, it will be in the cause of you sailors; and I expect 
you to fight like men." 

"Ay, ay, sir," was the response. "Let the quarter-deck look out 
for the colors, and we'll keep the guns going." 

All the preparations for battle were made openly, and the attitude 
taken by the "Constitution" was an open challenge. No notice of it 
was taken by the British ship ; and, after maintaining her hostile atti- 
tude for some time, the " Constitution " hoisted her anchor, and left the 
harbor. 

The time of the formal declaration of war was now rapidly approach- 
ing. The long diplomatic correspondence between the two nations had 
failed to lead to any amicable solution of the difficulties that were fast 
urging them to war. Great Britain still adhered to her doctrine that a 
man once an Englishman was always an English subject. No action of 



288 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 

his own could absolve him from allegiance to the flag under which he 
was born. Upon the trade of the United States with France, the Eng- 
lish looked with much the sentiments with which, during our civil war, 
we regarded the thriving trade driven with the Confederacy by the Brit- 
ish blockade-runners. Upon these two theories rested the hateful " right 
of search " and the custom of impressment. 

It is needless to say that the views of the United States on these 
questions were exactly contrary to those of the English. Such vital 
differences could, then, only be settled by war ; and war was accordingly 
declared in June, 181 2. It was a bold step for the young nation, but 
there was enough of plausibility in the English claims to make it evident 
that they could never be set aside by diplomacy ; and so, with hardly a 
thought of the odds against her, the United States dashed in to win justice 
at the muzzles of her cannon. 

That the odds were tremendous, is not to be denied. Of the military 
strength of the two nations, it is not the purpose of this book to treat. 
Indeed, a rccountal of the land battles of the war of 1S12 would hardly 
be pleasant reading for Americans. It was on the sea that our laurels 
were chiefly won. Yet, at the time of the declaration of war, the navy 
of the United States consisted of twenty vessels, of which the largest 
carried forty-four guns, and the majority rated under thirty. For years 
this navy had been a butt of ridicule for all the European naval powers. 
The frigate " Constitution " was scornfully termed by an English news- 
paper " a bunch of pine boards sailing under a bit of striped bunting." 
Not long after the publication of this insolent jeer, the "Constitution" 
sailed into an American port with a captured British frigate in tow. Right 
merrily then did the Americans boast of their " bunch of pine boards." 

This miniature navy of the United States was about to be piited 
against the greatest naval power of the world. The rolls of the navy of 
Great Britain bore at this time the names of over one thousand ships. 
Of these, no less than two hundred and fifty-four were ships-of-the-line, 
mounting over seventy-four guns each. Behind this great navy were the 
memories of long years of conquests, of an almost undisputed supremacy 
upon the ocean. Small wonder was it, then, that the British laughed at 
the idea of the Americans giving battle to their hitherto unconquered 
ships. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 289 

What, then, was the secret of the success which, as we shall see, 
attended the American arms on the sea ? The answer is, that men, not 
ships, carried the day. Yet Great Britain had the more sailors on her 
muster-rolls. True, but they were only too often unwilling slaves. Instead 
of enlisting, like free men, they were hunted down like brutes and forced 
to enter the service. No sailor was safe from the press-gang, and even 
sober citizens were often kidnapped to serve the ' King ' on the ocean. 
From the ships of other nations, from their homes and from taverns, the 
unlucky sailors were dragged away. Even in the streets of populous 
cities, they were not safe ; and it was no uncommon sight to see pitcned 
battles being fought between the press-gangs and sailors whom they 
were trying to capture. Generally, the inhabitants and landsmen sided 
with the victims ; and a sailor running through the streets of the town 
would be given every assistance by people, who filled with obstacles the 
path of his pursuers. Could he reach the water-side, the fugitive would 
find every boat at his service ; while his pursuers, on coming up, found 
every water-man very busy and very gruff. But the wonder is, that 
with this unjust and repulsive system of impressments, the British sailo:F 
were so loyal, and fought with the dogged courage that they invariablj 
showed. 

In the American navy, on the contrary, the enlistments were volun- 
tary. The service was popular, and the seamen entered it without the 
feeling of outraged liberty inspired by the British system. Officers were 
readily -obtained from the ranks of the adventurous American navigators. 
Officers and men alike often brought into the service personal memories, 
of British oppression ; and this, with their free and independent spirit, 
enabled them to wage an unequal war with glorious results for the 
supporters of the stars and stripes. 





m';^ 



CHAPTER IV 



THE WAR ON THE OCEAN. — COMMODORE RODGERS'S CRUISE.— THE LOSS OF THE " NAU- 
TILUS."— FIRST SUCCESS FOR THE BRITISH.— THE ESCAPE OF THE "CONSTITUTION." — 
THE "ESSEX" TAKES THE "ALERT." — THE "CONSTITUTION AND THE " GUERRIERE." 




T the time when the declaration of war was made public, a 
small squadron of United States vessels was lying in the port of 
New York, under the command of Commodore Rodgers The 
warlike tendency of the popular mind had long been evident, 
and the captain of every war-vessel had been for some time making 
active preparations for service. Some apprehension was felt in naval 
circles, lest the small size of the navy should lead the authorities to lay 
up the vessels in port during the continuance of the war. This appre- 
hension was well founded ; for not only had such a course been debated 
in the cabinet, but orders had been prepared, directing Commodore 
Rodgers to hold his vessels in port. This decision was actively opposed 
290 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 29 1 



by the officers of the navy, who felt that, though inconsiderable in num- 
bers, the United States navy could make a brave fight for the honor of 
the nation ; and with one accord all protested against the action con- 
templated. Two officers, Capt. Bainbridge and Capt. Stewart, went to 
Washington and sought an interview with the Secretary of the Navy, 
Paul Hamilton, who assured them that the plans of the Government were 
well matured and would not be changed. The United States could not 
afford, said the secretary, that its few frigates and men-of-war should be 
snapped up by the enormous fleets of the British, as would surely be the 
case, if they ventured upon the ocean. But it was not intended to materi- 
ally reduce the lists of naval officers. The frigates, with all their loose 
spars and top-hamper taken down, were to be anchored at the entrances of 
the principal harbors of the country, and operated as stationary batteries. 

This prospect was far from agreeable to the two officers. It was intol- 
erable for them to imagine the graceful frigates, with towering masts and 
snowy canvas, reduced to mere shapeless hulks, and left to guard the 
entrance of a placid harbor. Finding the secretary inexorable, they went 
to the President and put the case before him. They assured him, that, 
small though the list of American ships wa.s, it bore the names of vessels 
able to cope with any thing of their class in the British navy. Both 
officers and seamen were proud of the service, and burned to strike a 
blow for its honor. President Madison seemed much impressed by their 
representations, and agreed to take the matter into consideration ; and, if 
it seemed wise, to change the plan. But, before any definite action was 
taken by him, war was declared. 

Within an hour after he had received news of the declaration of war, 
Commodore Rodgers had his squadron under way, and dropped down New 
York Bay to the ocean. Under his command were the flag-ship " Presi- 
dent " of forty-four guns, the " Esse.x " thirty-two, and the " Hornet " 
eighteen. In the lower bay these vessels were joined by the " United 
States " forty-four, the " Congress " thirty-eight, and the " Argus " si.xtccn. 
On June 21, 1812, three days after the declaration of war, the whole 
squadron passed Sandy Hook, and stood out into the ocean. 

It is probable that the remarkable celerity of Commodore Rodgcrs's 
departure was due, in part, to the fear that the authorities would revive 
the obno.xious order laying up the ships in port. His chief object, how- 



292 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



ever, was to overhaul a large fleet of British merchantmen that had 
recently left the West Indies, and, according to all calculations, should 
have been in the vicinity of New York at that time. All sail was accord- 
ingly crowded upon the ships, and the squadron set out in hot pursuit. 

For two days the monotony of the horizon was broken by no sail ; 
but on the third a ship was espied in the distance, which was made out 
to be an enemy's frigate, after which chase was made by the whole 
squadron. A fresh breeze was blowing, and both chase and pursuers 
were running free before the wind. As sail after sail was crowded upon 
the ships, the smaller vessels, with their lesser expanse of canvas, began 
to fall behind ; and in a few hours the frigate " President " had gradu- 
ally drawn away from the fleet, and was rapidly gaining on the enemy. 
The sail had been spied at si.x o'clock in the morning, and at four p.m. 
the flag-ship had come within gunshot of the chase. The wind then 
fell ; and the chase, being long out of port and light, began to gain on 
her heavier adversary. Both vessels now began to prepare for a little 
gunnery. On the English vessel, which proved to be the "Belvidera," 
thirty-six, the sailors were busily engaged in shifting long eighteens and 
carronades to the stern, making a battery of stern-chasers mounting four 
guns. 

The action was opened by a gun from the bow of the " President," 
sighted and fired by Commodore Rodgers himself ; so that this officer may 
be said to have fired the first gun of the war. His shot was a good one, 
hulling the enemy. A second shot from one of the guns of the first 
division broke off the muzzle of one of the " Belvidera's " stern-chasers ; 
and a third shot, fired by Commodore Rodgers, crashed into the stern 
of the chase, killing two men, and wounding several others. Certainly in 
their first action the Yankees showed no lack of skill in gunnery. 

The chase was slow in responding to the fire ; and although her com- 
mander, Capt. Byron, sighted the guns for the first few discharges himself, 
his aim was by no means so good as that of the Americans. The British 
showed great energy, however, in defending their ship. Not content with 
the stern guns already mounted, they shifted to the stern ports two long 
eighteen-poundcrs on the main deck, and two thirty-two-pound carronades 
on the quarter-deck. With these they kept up a brisk fire, which soon 
became effective, many shots cutting the rigging of the " President," while 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 293 

one plunged down upon the deck, killing a midshipman and two or three 
men. But the superiority of the American gunnery was beginning to tell, 
when, at a critical moment, a main-deck gun, on the " President," burst with 
a stunning report ; and the flying fragments killed or wounded sixteen 
men. The force of the explosion shattered the forecastle deck. Com 
modore Rodgers was thrown high into the air, and, falling heavily on the 
deck, suffered a painful fracture of the leg. The crew was at once thrown 
into confusion and almost panic. Every gun was looked upon with suspi- 
cion. Encouraged by this confusion, the enemy worked his stern guns 
with renewed vigor, and at the same time lightened his ship by cutting 
away boats and anchors, and starting fourteen tons of water. Thus 
lightened, she began to draw away from the " President ; " perceiving 
which, the latter ship yawed several times, and let fly full broadsides at 
the escaping chase. The shot rattled among the spars of the " Belvidera," 
but the nimble topmen quickly repaired all damages ; and the British ship 
slowly but steadily forged ahead. Seeing no hope of overtaking her, 
Rodgers ordered the chase abandoned ; and the American squadron again 
took up its search for the fleet of British merchantmen. 

But this, the first cruise of the United States navy in the war was 
destined to be a disappointment to all concerned. The key-note set by 
the affair just related — in which the "President" lost twenty-two men, 
and permitted her adversary to escape — was continued throughout the 
voyage. Always finding traces of the enemy they were seeking, the 
Americans never succeeded in overhauling him. One day great quanti- 
ties of orange-peel, cocoanut-shclls, and similar fragments of tropical fruits 
gave the jackies assurance of the proximity of the long-sought enemy, 
and urged them on to renewed energy and watchfulness. Then the master 
of an English letter-of-marque, captured by the "Hornet," reported that 
the day before he had passed a fleet of eighty-flve sail, of which four 
were men-of-war. That night there was no room in the minds of the 
sailors for anv thoughts other tiian those of big prize-money. 15ut thcii 
golden dreams were never to be fulfilled ; for, although the chase was 
continued until within a day's run of the English Channel, no sight oi 
the Jamaica fleet was ever gained. Abandoning this chase, the squadron 
returned to Boston by a Southern route ; and, although constantly in the 
very highway of commerce, few sails were sighted. When port was 



294 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



reached, the results of a cruise that had occupied seventy days amounted 
only to the capture of one letter-of-marque, seven merchantmen, and the 
recapture of one American ship. But Rodgers heard, that, while he 




EXPLOSION ON THE "PRESIDENT." 



had been scouring the ocean with such meagre results, events of more 
importance had occurred nearer home. 

The British ship " Belvidera," after her lucky escape from the " Presi- 
dent," had made her way to Halifax, the chief naval station of Great 
Britain on the American coast. Her report was the first news of the 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 295 



declaration of war, for at that day news travelled slowly. Once alarmed, 
the British were prompt to act ; and in a few days a squadron left Halifax 
in search of Commodore Rodgers. The force thus hurriedly gathered 
was quite formidable. The " Africa " of si.\ty-four guns, the " Shannon," 
thirty-eight, the " Guerriere," thirty-eight, the " Belvidera," thirty-six, and 
the "-£olus," thirty-two, made up the fleet despatched to chastise the 
headstrong Americans for their attempt to dispute with Great Britain the 
mastery of the ocean. Early in July, this force made its appearance off 
New York, and quickly made captures enough to convince the American 
merchantmen that a season in port was preferable to the dangers of the 
high seas in war-times. To this same fleet belongs the honor of the first 
capture of a war-vessel during the war ; for the American brig " Nautilus," 
fourteen guns, was suddenly overhauled by the entire fleet, and captured 
after a plucky but unavailing attempt at flight. 

Fourteen-gun brigs, however, were rather small game for a squadron 
like that of the British ; and it is probable that His Britannic Majesty's 
officers were heartily glad, when, some days, later the United States frigate 
" Constitution " hove in sight, under circumstances which seemed certain 
to make her an easy prey to the five British ships. 

It was on the 17th of July, 1S12, that the "Constitution," after 
receiving a new crew at Annapolis, was standing northward under easy 
sail on her way to New York. About noon four sails were sighted on 
the horizon, and an hour later the appearance of a fifth sail was duly 
reported. A careful scrutiny of the strangers convinced Capt. Hull that 
they were men-of-war, although their nationality could not be determined. 
Night fell before the ships could come within hailing distance ; and, though 
Hull set private signals, no answer was returned. When day broke, Hull 
found himself fairly surrounded by British frigates. In addition to the 
squadron which has been described as leaving Halifax, there was the 
captured " Nautilus " with her guns turned against her own nation, and 
a captured American schooner which had been likewise pressed into the 
service. Clearly the " Constitution " was outnumbered, and nothing was 
left for her but flight. 

The events of that three days' chase arc told with great minuteness 
in the log-book of the " Constitution," to which many of those on board 
have, in later publications, added more interesting personal reminiscences. 



296 BLUE-JACKETS OF 18 12. 

When the rising mists showed how completely the American frigate was 
hemmed in. hardly a breath of air was stirring. Although every sail 
was set on the ship, yet she had not steerage way; and Hull ordered 
out the boats, to pull the ship's head around and tow her out of range of 
her enemies. At the same time, gangs of sailors with a.xes cut away the 
woodwork about the cabin windows, and mounted two stern guns in 
the cabin and one on the upper deck. The enemy, in the mean time, 
were keeping up a vigorous fire, but without effect. Their ships were 
rapidly gaining, as they were enabled to set the boats of the whole 
squadron to towing the two foremost vessels. Hull saw that some new 
means of getting ahead must be devised. 

Soundings were taken, and the ship found to be in twenty-six fathoms 
of water. All the available rope in the ship was then bent on to a 
kedge and carried far ahead, when the kedge was lowered to the bottom. 
The sailors then shipped their capstan-bars, and tramped about the 
capstan, until the ship was dragged up to the kedge, which was then 
hoisted and again carried ahead and let fall. This manosuvre was 
repeated several times with marked success; for the "Constitution" was 
rapidly drawing away from her pursuers, who could not discover her 
means of propulsion. Out of sight of land as they were, the British 
did not for some time suspect the true cause of the sudden speed of the 
fugitive. When, after long scrutiny through their marine-glasses, they 
finally did discover the stratagem, the " Constitution " was far ahead ; 
and though the pursuers adopted the same device, yet their awkwardness 
was so great, that even the superior force they were enabled to employ 
did not bring them up to their chase. 

While the ships were thus being urged on by towing, kedging, and 
occasionally by sweeps, an intermittent fire was kept up by the British, 
and responded to by the " Constitution " from her stern ports. The guns 
which had been mounted by the Americans in the cabin, they were soon 
forced to abandon, as the explosions threatened to blow out the whole 
stern frame. With the stern-chasers on the gun-deck, however, a constant 
fire was maintained, in the hopes of crippling the enemy by a lucky shot. 

For more than forty-eight hours the chase maintained this aspect of 
monotony. A dead calm prevailed the greater part of the time. Occa- 
sionally, light breezes filled the sails, and wafted the ships ahead for a 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 297 

few minutes ; then, dying away, left the sea unruffled, and the sails flap- 
ping idly against the masts. British historians concur with those of our 
own country, in saying that the " Constitution," in seizing the advan- 
tages of the breeze, showed far better seamanship than did her enemies. 
While the British vessels lay to, to pick up their boats, the " Constitution " 
forged ahead, picking up her boats while under way. Later in the chase, 
the British totafly abandoned their boats, and, when the American 
fiigate had fairly escaped them, went about for some days picking up 
such boats as were found drifting on the broad ocean. 

The morning of the second day of the chase dawned with a light 
breeze ruffling the water, and filling out the sails of the ships. Before 
the breeze died away, which it did in a few hours, the " Constitution " 
had gained on her pursuers so that she led them by more than four 
miles. Then the calm again held the ships quiet ; and again the Ameri- 
cans saw their enemies closing in upon them by the aid of sweeps, and 
towing with their boats. There was little rest for the crew of the 
American frigate. On the gun-deck, about the carriages of the great 
cannon, lay such of the men as were not assigned to duty in the boats 
or at the capstan. Wearied with the constant strain, they fell asleep as 
soon as relieved from active duty ; though they knew that from that 
sleep they might be awakened to plunge into the fierce excitement of 
desperate battle. E.xhausted as the men were, their officers were forced 
to endure a still more fearful strain. No sleep came to the eyelids of 
Capt. Hull, throughout the chase. Now encouraging the men, now 
planning a new ruse to deceive the enemy, ever watchful of the pursu- 
ing ships, and ready to take advantage of the slightest breath of air, 
Capt. Hull and his able first lieutenant Morris showed such seamanship 
as extorted admiration even from the British, who were being baffled 
by their nautical skill. 

By skilful manauvring, the Americans managed to keep to the wind- 
ward of their enemies throughout the chase ; and to this fact the success 
of Capt. Hull's most astute stratagem was due. Ever alert for any sign 
of a coming breeze, he saw on the water far to windward that rippling 
appearance that betokens the coming of a puff. Hull determined to utilize 
it for himself, and, if possible, trick the British so that they would lose 
all benefit of the breeze. The clouds that were coming up to windward 



298 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

seemed to threaten a squall, and driving sheets of rain were rapidly 
advancing toward the ship. With great ostentation, the "Constitution" 
was made ready for a severe gale. The enemy could see the nimble 
sailors taking in sail, and furling all the lighter canvas. Then the driv- 
ing rain swept over the ship, and she was shut out of sight. Immediately 
all was activity in the tops of the British frigates. Reefs were rapidly taken 
in the larger sails, while many were closely furled. All forsook their course, 
and steered in different directions in preparation for the coming squall, 
which, indeed, was far less violent than the action of the " Constitution " 
seemed to indicate. But the shrewd Yankees on that craft, protected from 
spying British eyes by the heavy rain, were now shaking out the reefs they 
had just set ; and under full sail the ship was soon flying away towards 
home. After an hour of driving thunder-shower, the clouds passed by ; and 
the wall-like edge of the shower could be seen moving rapidly away before 
the wind. The tars on the " Constitution " watched eagerly to see the 
British fleet appear. Farther and farther receded the gray curtain, and yet 
no ships could be seen. " Where are they .' " was the thought of every 
eager watcher on the deck of the "Constitution." At last they appeared, 
so far in the distance as to be practically out of the chase. Two were even 
hull down ; while one was barely visible, a mere speck on the horizon. 

Though now hopelessly distanced, the British did not give up the pur- 
suit, but held valiantly on after the American frigate. She had so long 
been within their very grasp that it was a bitter disappointment for them to 
be balked of their prey. But, as the wind now held, the American gained on 
them so rapidly that at last they unwillingly abandoned the chase ; and, dis- 
banding the fleet, each ship set off on an individual cruise, in the hopes that 
the enemy which had shown such ability in flight when overpowered would 
not deign to fly if encountered by a single hostile ship. This expectation 
was fully realized some weeks later, when the " Constitution " fell in with the 
British frigate " Guerriere." 

Thus, after a chase of more than sixty-four hours, tlie " Constitution " 
evaded her pursuers, and made her way to Boston. Although they reaped 
no glory by their labors, the British did not come out of the chase alto 
gether empty-handed. As the course of the vessels was along the New 
England coast, they were in the direct path of American commerce ; and 
more than one wretched coaster fell into their clutches. At one time, a 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 



fine, full-rigged ship, flying the stars and stripes, came within sight ; and 
the British, to lure her to her destruction, hoisted the American flag 
over all their vessels. But Hull was a match for them at strategy; and 
he promptly set the British colors at his masthead, and began so vigor- 
ous a cannonade that the stranger concluded that a merchantman had 
no business in that quarter, even though the Americans did appear to 
be rather in the majority. 

By his able seamanship in this chase Capt. Hull gained for himself a 
national reputation. The newspapers of the day vied with each other in 
pointing out the manoeuvres in which he had excelled his enemies, — how 
he had picked up his boats while under way, though the enemy were 
forced to cut theirs adrift ; how he had come out of the chase without 
injury, and after parting with only a few gallons of water, though a less 
cool-headed commander would have thrown overboard guns, ammunition, 
and every thing movable, in the face of so great a danger. A modest 
sailor, as well as a skilful one, Capt. Hull showed himself to be; fo: 
while the popular adulation was at its height, he inserted a card in the 
books of the Exchange Coffee-House at Boston, begging his friends to 
" make a transfer of a great part of their good wishes to Lieut. Morris and 
the other brave officers and crew under his command, for their very great 
exertions and prompt attention to orders while the enemy were in chase." 

Leaving the "Constitution" thus snugly in port at Boston, we will 
turn aside to follow the fortunes of a ship, which, though belated in 
getting out to sea, yet won the honor of capturing the first British war- 
vessel taken during the war. 

When Commodore Rodgers set sail from New York with his squadron, 
in the fruitless pursuit of the fleet of Jamaica men, he left in the harbor 
the small frigate " Essex," under the command of Capt. David Porter. 
The ship was thoroughly dismantled, — stripped of her rigging, her hold 
broken out, and provided neither with armament, ammunition, nor crew. 
Her captain, however, was a man of indomitable energy ; and by dint of 
nuich hard work, and constant appeals to the authorities at Washington, 
he managed to get his ship in order, and leave the harbor within a fort- 
night after the departure of the squadron under Rodgers's command. 

The "I'2ssex" was a small frigate, lightly sparred, rating as a thirty- 
two-gun ship, but mounting twenty-six guns only, of which six were 



11 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 



twelve-pounders, and the remainder carronades of thirt)-t\vo pounds. A 
carronade is a short cannon of large calibre, but of very short range. 
Capt. Porter protested vigorously against being furnished with a battery 
so useless except at close quarters : but his protests were unheeded ; and 
the "Essex" put to sea, trusting to her ability to get alongside the enemy, 
where her carronades would be of some use. 

Among the midshipmen who bunked, messed, and skylarked together 
in the steerage of the " Essex," was one lad whose name in later days 
was to be inscribed en the roll of the greatest naval heroes of history. 
David Glasgow Farragut was a child of seven years of age when he was 
adopted by Capt. Porter, and began his training for a naval career. In 
1810 the boy secured his appointment of midshipman; and now, in 1812, 
we find him enrolled among the "young gentlemen" who followed the 
fortunes of the "Essex." In those days the midshipmen were often mere 
boys. Farragut himself was then but eleven years old. But, boys as they 
were, they ordered the hardy old tars about, and strutted the street'- 
when on shore-leave, with all the dignity of veterans. 

That the discipline of the "Essex" was of the strictest, and that th? 
efficiency of her crew was above criticism, we have the testimony of 
Farragut himself to prove. "Every day," he writes, "the crew were 
exercised at the great guns, small arms, and single stick ; and I may 
here mention the fact, that I have never been on a ship where the 
crew of the old "Essex" was represented, but that I found them to be 
the best swordsmen on board. They had been so thoroughly trained as 
boarders, that every man was prepared for su?h an emergency, with his 
cutlass as sharp as a razor, a dirk made by the ship's armorer out of a 
file, and a pistol." 

Hardly were the Highlands of Navesink lost to sight below the hori- 
zon, when Porter began to receive evidences that his cruise was to be a 
lucky one. Several brigs were captured, and sent into New York ; but 
the tars of the "Essex" were beginning to grow weary of small game, 
and hoped, each time a sail was sighted, that it might be a British man- 
of-war. At last a small squadron hove into sight, the appearance of which 
seemed to indicate that the jackies might smell gunpowder to their hearts' 
content before the next day. 

It was late at night when the strange fleet was sighted ; and the 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 30I 

" Essex " was soon running down upon them, before a fresh breeze. 
Although the moon was out, its light was obscured by dense masses of 
cioud, that were driven rapidly across the sky ; while over the water hung 
a light haze, that made difficult the discovery of objects at any distance. 
The " Essex " soon came near enough to the squadron to ascertain that 
it was a fleet of British merchantmen and transports convoyed by a 
frigate and bomb-vessel. The frigate was at the head of the line ; and 
the " Essex," carefully concealing her hostile character, clapped on all 
sail and pressed forward, in the hopes of bringing on an action. After 
passing the hindermost transport, however, the American ship was hailed 
by a second transport, which soon suspected her hostile character and 
threatened to give the alarm. Instantly the ports of the " Essex " were 
knocked out, the guns trained on the enemy, and the transport was 
ordered to haul out of the line at once, and silently, under penalty 
of being fired into. The defenceless ship complied, and was at once 
taken possession of, and the soldiers on board were transferred to the 
"Essex." This operation took so much time, that, by the time it was 
concluded, day dawned over the ocean; and the attack upon the British 
frigate was abandoned. 

Again the " Essex " continued her cruise in search of an enemy 
worthy of her metal. For two or three days she beat about the ocean 
in the usual track of ships, without sighting a single sail. The ship 
had been so disguised, that the keenest-eyed lookout would never have 
taken her for a ship-of-war. The top-gallant masts were housed, the 
ports of the gun-deck closed in, and her usually trim cordage and nicely 
squared yards were now set in a way that only the most shiftless of 
merchant skippers would tolerate. Not many days passed before the 
enemy fell into the trap thus set for him. 

When on the 13th of August Capt. Porter learned that a sail to 
windward, apparently a British man-of-war, was bearing down upon the 
"Esse.x," he carried his little bit of acting still further. Instead of the 
great crowd of agile sailors that spring into the rigging of a man-of-war, 
at the order to make sail, only a handful, in obedience to Porter's orders, 
awkwardly set on the " Essex " all the sail she would carry. Two long, 
heavy cables dragging in the water astern so retarded the ship, that the 
stranger, coming down gallantly, thought he had fallen in with a lumber 



302 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

fng old American merchantman, which was making frantic, but futile, 
efforts to escape. 

Had the British captain been able to look behind the closed ports of 
the "Essex," he would have formed a very different idea of the charac- 
ter of his chase. He would have seen a roomy gun-deck, glistening with 
that whiteness seen only on the decks of well-kept men-of-war. Down 
cither side of the deck stretched a row of heavy carronades, each with 
its crew of gunners grouped about the breech, and each shotted and 
primed ready for the opening volley. From the magazine amidships, 
to the gun-deck, reached a line of stewards, waiters, and cooks, ready to 
pass up cartridges ; for on a man-of-war, in action, no one is an idler. 
Active boys were skurrying about the deck, barefooted, and stripped to 
the waist. These were the "powder monkeys," whose duty it would be, 
when the action opened, to take the cartridges from the line of powder- 
passers and carry it to the guns. On the spar-deck, only a few sailors 
and officers were visible to the enemy ; but under the taffrail lay crouched 
scores of blue-uniformed jackies, with smooth-faced middies and veteran 
lieutenants, ready to spring into the rigging at the word of command, or 
to swarm over the side and board the enemy, should the gunwales of 
the vessels touch. 

All this preparation, however, was unknown to the " Englishman," 
who came boldly on, douliting nothing that the "Essex" would that day 
be added to his list of prizes. As he drew nearer, the American sailors 
could see that their foe was much their inferior in size and armament ; 
and the old tars who had seen service before growled out their dissatis- 
faction, that the action should be nothing but a scrimmage after all. In 
a few minutes, the bold Britons gave three ringing cheers, and let fly a 
broadside at the "Esse.x." In an instant the ports of the sham mer- 
chantman were knocked out ; and, with a war-like thunder, the heavy 
carronades hurled their ponderous missiles against the side of the 
assailant. The astonished Englishmen replied feebly, but were quickly 
driven from their posts by the rapidity of the American fire ; and, in 
eight minutes after the action was opened, the British hauled down their 
flag. The captured ship proved to be the sloop-of-war "Alert," mount- 
ing twenty eightecn-pounder carronades. The boarding officer found 
her badly cut up, and seven feet of water in the hold. The officers 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 303 

were transferred to the " Essex," and the " Alert " taken in tow. Cir- 
cumstances, however, forced the Americans to part in a very few days. 

The chief cause which led to the separation of the two vessels was 
an incipient mutiny, which was discovered by Midshipman Farragut, and 
was only averted by the perfect discipline of the American crew. An 
exercise to which the greatest attention was given was the "fire-drill." 
When the cry of fire was raised on the ship, every man seized his cut- 
lass and blanket, and went to quarters as though the ship were about to 
go into action. Capt. Porter was accustomed, that his men might be 
well prepared for any emergency, to raise this cry of fire at all hours of 
the night ; and often he caused a slight smoke to be created in the hold, 
further to try the nerves of his men. Shortly after the " Alert " was 
captured, and while the " Essex " was crowded with prisoners, some of 
the captives conspired to seize the ship, and carry her to England. One 
night, as Farragut was sleeping in his hammock, a strange feeling of 
fear came over him ; and he opened his eyes to find the coxswain of the 
captain's gig of the "Alert" standing over him with a pistol in his hand. 
The boy knew him to be a prisoner, and, seeing him armed, was con- 
vinced that something was wrong. Expecting every moment to be killed. 
he lay still in his hammock, until the mar. turned on his heel and walked 
away. Then Farragut slipped out, and ran to the captain's cabin to report 
the incident. Porter rushed upon the berth-deck in an instant. " Fire ! 
fire ! " shouted he at the top of his voice ; and in an instant the crew 
were at their quarters, in perfect order. The mutineers thought that a 
bad time for their project, and it was abandoned. The next day the 
prisoners were sent on board the " Alert," and that vessel sent into St. 
Johns as a cartel. 

The capture of the "Alert" reflected no great glory upon the Ameri- 
cans, for the immense superiority of the " Essex " rendered her success 
certain. It is, however, of interest a.s being the first capture of a British 
war-vessel. The action made the honors easy between the two nations ; 
for while the Americans had the " Alert," the British were captors of 
the brig "Nautilus." This equality was not of long duration, however; 
for an action soon followed which set all America wild with exultation. 

After her escape from the British fleet, the "Constitution" remained 
at Boston only a few days, and then set out on a cruise to the eastward 



304 BLUE-JACKETS OF 18 12. 

along the New England coast. Bad luck seemed to follow her, and she 
had reached a point off Cape Sable before she made a prize. Here two 
or three prizes of little value were taken ; and an English sloop-of-war 
was forced to relinquish an American brig, which had been recently cap- 
tured. Shortly afterwards, a Salem privateer was overhauled, the captain 
of which reported an English frigate cruising in the neighborhood ; and 
Capt. Hull straightway set out to discover the enemy. 

The frigate which had been sighted by the Salem privateer, and for 
which Hull was so eagerly seeking, was the " Guerriere," a thirty-eight- 
gun ship commanded by Capt. Dacres. With both ship and captain, 
Capt. Hull had previously had some little experience. The " Guerriere " 
was one of the ships in the squadron from which the "Constitution" 
had so narrowly escaped a few weeks before, while Capt. Dacres was an 
old acquaintance. A story current at the time relates, that, before the 
war, the "Guerriere" and the "Constitution" were lying in the Dela 
ware ; and the two captains, happening to meet at some entertainment 
')n shore, fell into a discussion over the merits of their respective navies. 
Although even then the cloud of war was rising on the horizon, each 
was pleasant and good-natured ; and the discussion assumed no more 
serious form than lively banter. 

"Well," said Hull at last, "you may just take good care of that ship 
of yours, if ever I catch her in the 'Constitution.'" 

Capt. Dacres laughed good-humoredly, and offered to bet a sum of 
money, that in the event of a conflict his confident friend would find 
himself the loser. 

" No," said Hull, " I'll bet no money on it ; but I will stake you a 
hat, that the 'Constitution' comes out victorious." 

" Done," responded Dacres ; and the bet was made. War was soon 
declared ; and, as it happened, the two friends were pitted against each 
'ther early in the hostilities. 

It was not long after the American frigate parted from the privateer 
when the long-drawn hail of " Sail ho-o-o ! " from the lookout aloft 
announced the discovery of another vessel. The course of the " Constitu- 
tion " was at once shaped toward the stranger. In half an hour she 
was made out to be a frigate, and from her actions was evidently an.xious 
to come alongside the American ship. As more than an hour must elapse 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 305 

before the ships could come together, Capt. Hull made his preparations 
for action with the greatest deliberation. The top-gallant sails were furled, 
and the lighter spars lowered to the deck. Through their glasses, the 
officers could see the enemy making similar preparations, and waiting 
deliberately for the " Constitution " to come down. 

At five o'clock in the afternoon the two ships were rapidly nearing, 
and the drums on the American frigate beat to quarters. Then followed 
the rush of barefooted men along the deck, as they ran hastily, but in 
perfect order, to their stations. As the roll of the drums died away, the 
shrill voices of the boyish midshipmen arose, calling off the quarter-bills, 
and answered by the gruff responses of the men at their posts. Every 
man, from the cook to the captain, knew his place, and hurried to it. 
The surgeon, with his assistants, descended to the cock-pit. The carpenter 
and his mates made ready their felt-covered plugs, for stopping holes made 
by the enemy's shot. The topmen clambered to their posts in the rigging, 
led by the midshipmen who were to command them. The line of powder- 
passers was formed ; and the powder-monkeys gave up skylarking, and 
began to look sober at the thought of the business in hand. 

The " Guerriere " was not behindhand in her preparations for action. 
Capt. Dacres had suspected the character of the American vessel, from 
the first moment she had been sighted. On board the English frigate 
was Capt. William B. Orne, a Marblehead sailor who had been captured 
by the "Guerriere" some days before. "Capt. Dacres seemed an.xious to 
ascertain her character," wrote Capt. Orne, shortly after the battle, "and 
after looking at her for that purpose, handed me his spy-glass, requesting 
me to give him my opinion of the stranger. I soon saw, from the pecul- 
iarity of her sails and her general appearance, that she was without 
doubt an American frigate, and communicated the same to Capt. Dacres. 
He immediately replied, that he thought she came down too boldly for 
an American ; but soon after added, ' The better he behaves, the more 
credit we shall gain by taking him.' 

"The two ships were rapidly approaching each other, when the 'Guer- 
riere ' backed her main topsail, and waited for her opponent to come 
down and commence the action. He then set an English flag at each 
masthead, beat to quarters, and made ready for the fight. 

" When the strange frigate came down to within two or three miles 



.3o6 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

distant, he hauled upon the wind, took in all his light sails, reefed his 
topsails, and deliberately prepared for action. It was now about five in 
the afternoon, when he filled away and ran down for the ' Guerriere.' 
At this moment Capt. Dacres said politely to me, ' Capt. Orne, as I 
suppose you do not wish to fight against your own countrymen, you are 
at liberty to retire below the water-line.' It was not long after this, 
before I retired from the quarter-deck to the cock-pit." It may be well 
here to supplement Capt. Ornc's narrative by the statement that Capt. 
Dacres, with a chivalric sense of justice not common in the British navy 
of that day, allowed ten American sailors who had been impressed into 
his crew to leave their quarters and go below, that they might not fight 
against their country. Though an enemy, he was both gallant and 
generous. 

The action was opened by the " Guerriere " with her weather broad- 
side ; the shot of which all falling short, she wore around, and let fly 
her port broadside, sending most of the shot through her enemy's rigging, 
though two took effect in the hull. In response to this, the " Constitu- 
tion " yawed a little, and fired two or three of her bow-guns ; after which 
the "Guerriere" again opened with broadsides. In this way the battle 
continued for about an hour ; the American ship saving her fire, and 
responding to the heavy broadsides with an occasional shot. 

During this ineffectual firing, the two ships were continually drawing 
nearer together, and the gunners on the "Constitution" were becoming 
more and more restive under their inaction. Capt. Mull was pacing the 
quarter-deck with short, quick steps, trying to look cool, but inwardly on 
fire with excitement. As the shot of the enemy began to take effect, 
and the impatience of the gunners grew more intense, Lieut. IMorris, the 
second in command, asked leave to respond with a broadside. 

" Not yet," responded Capt. Hull with cool decision. Some minutes 
later, the request was repeated, and met with the same response, while 
the captain never ceased his pacing of the deck. When within about 
half pistol-shot, another broadside came from the "Guerriere." Then the 
smothered excitement in Mull's breast broke out. 

"Now, boys, pour it into them!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, 
gesticulating with such violence that the tight breeches of his naval 
uniform split clear down the side. Lieut. Morris seconded the captain 
in cheering on the crew. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF i8i: 



507 



"Hull her, boys! Hull her!" he shouted; and the crew, catching 
up the cry, made the decks ring with shouts of "Hull her!" as they 
rapidly loaded and let fly again. 

The effect of their first broadside was terrific. Deep down in the 
cock-pit of the "Guerriere," Capt. Orne, who had been listening to 
the muffled thunder of the cannonade at long range, suddenly " heard a 
tremendous explosion from the opposing frigate. The effect of her shot 
seemed to make the ' Guerriere ' reel and tremble, as though she had 




HULL HER, BOYS!" 



received the shock of an earthquake. Immediately after this, I heard a 
tremendous shock on deck, and was told that the mizzenmast was shot 
away. In a few moments afterward, the cock-pit was filled with wounded 
men." 

Though in his retreat in the cock-pit the captive American could hear 
the roar of the cannon, and see the ghastly effects of the flying missiles, 
be could form but a small idea of the fury of the conflict which was 
raging over his head. Strijiped to the waist, and covered with the stains 



3o8 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

of powder and of blood, the gunners on the two ships pulled fiercely at 
the gun-tackle, and wielded the rammers with frantic energy ; then let 
fly the death-dealing bolt into the hull of an enemy only a few yards 
distant. The ships were broadside to broadside, when the Englishman's 
mizzen-mast was shot away, and fell, throwing the topmen far out into 
the sea. The force of the great spar falling upon the deck made a great 
breach in the quarter of the ship ; and, while the sailors were clearing 
away the wreck, the " Constitution " drew slowly ahead, pouring in several 
destructive broadsides, and then luffed slowly, until she lay right athwart 
the enemy's bow. While in this position, the long bowsprit of the 
"Guerriere" stretched far across the quarter-deck of the American ship, 
and was soon fouled in the mizzen-rigging of the latter vessel. Then the 
two ships swung helplessly around, so that the bow of the Englishman 
lay snugly against the port-quarter of the Yankee craft. Instantly, from 
the deck of each ship rang out the short, sharp blare of the bugle, calling 
away the boarders, who sprang from their guns, seized their heavy boarding 
caps and cutlasses, and rushed to the side. But a heavy sea was rolling 
and tossing the two frigates, so that boarding seemed impossible ; and, as 
Dacres saw the crowd of men ready to receive his boarders, he called 
them back to the guns. Although each party stuck to its own ship, the 
fighting was almost hand to hand. Pistols were freely used ; and from 
the tops rained down a ceaseless hail of leaden missiles, one of which 
wounded Capt. Dacres slightly. So near to each other were the com- 
batants, that the commands and the cries of rage and pain could be 
heard above the deep-toned thunder of the great guns and the ceaseless 
rattle of the musketry. The protruding muzzles of the guns often touched 
the sides of the opposing ship ; and when the cannon were drawn in for 
loading, the sailors on either side thrust muskets and [jistols through the 
ports, and tried to pick off the enemy at his guns. 

While the fight was thus raging, a cry of " Fire ! " horrified every 
one on the "Constitution." Flames were seen coming from the windows 
of the cabin, which lay directly beneath the bow-guns of the "Guerriere." 
The fire had been set by the flash from the enemy's cannon, so close 
were the two ships together. By the strenuous exertions of the men on 
duty in the cabin, the flames were extinguished, and this, the greatest of 
all dangers, averted. .Shortly after, the gun which had caused the trouble 
j?as disabled by a skilful shot from one of the Yankee's guns. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 309 

While the flames in the cabin were being extinguished, the Americans 
were making a valiant attempt to board and Lieut. Morris with his own 
hands was attempting to lash the two ships together. Abandoning this 
attempt, he leaped upon the taffrail, and called upon his men to follow 
him. Lieut. Bush of the marines, and Mr. Alwyn, were soon at the side 
of the intrepid officer, when, at a sudden volley of musketry from the 
British, all three fell back, poor Bush dead, and the two others badly 
wounded. The ships then drifted asunder; and the " Guerriere's " foremast 
was shot away, and dragged down the mainmast with it in its fall. The 
shattered ship now lay a shapeless hulk, tossing on the waves, but still 
keeping a British ensign defiantly flying from the stump of her fallen 
mizzen-mast. 

The " Constitution " drew away, firing continually, and soon secured 
a raking position ; seeing which, the British hauled down their colors. 
Lieut. Read was sent on board the prize, and, on the appearance of Capt. 
Dacres, said, — 

"Capt. Hull presents his compliments, sir, and wishes to know if y,- 
have struck your flag." 

Dacres looked significantly at the shattered masts of his ship, and 
responded dryly, — 

"Well, I don't know. Our mizzen-mast is gone, our main-mast is gone; 
and I think, on the whole, you may say that we have struck our flag." 

After looking about the ship, the boarding officer stepped to the side, 
to return to his own vessel. Before leaving, he said to Capt. Dacres, — 

"Would you like the assistance of a surgeon, or surgeon's mate, in 
saring for your wounded .' " 

Dacres looked surprised, and responded, — 

"Well, I should suppose you had on board your own ship business 
enough for all your medical officers." 

"Oh, no!" answered Read. "We have only seven wounded, and they 
feave been dressed long ago." 

Dacres was astounded, as well he might be ; for on the decks of his 
ship lay twenty-three dead or mortally wounded men, while the surgeons 
were doing their best to alleviate the sufferings of fifty-si.\ wounded, among 
whom were several officers. Indeed, the ship looked like a charnel-house. 
When Capt. Orne, freed by the result of the battle, came on deck, he 



3IO blue-Jackets of 1812. 

saw a siglit that he thus describes : " At about half-past seven o'clock, I 
went on deck, and there beheld a scene which it would be difficult to 
describe. All the ' Guerriere's ' masts were shot away ; and, as she had 
no sails to steady her, she was rolling like a log in the trough of the 
sea. Many of the men were employed in throwing the dead overboard 
The decks were covered with blood, and had the appearance of a ship's 
slaughter-house. The gun-tackles were not made fast ; and several of the 
guns got loose, and were surging from one side to the other. Some of 
the petty officers and seamen got liquor, and were into.xicated ; and what 
with the groans of the wounded, the noise and confusion of the enraged 
survivors on board of the ill-fated ship, rendered the whole scene a perfect 
hell." 

For some time after the "Guerriere" had been formally taken posses- 
sion of, it seemed as though the " Constitution " would have to fight a 
second battle, to keep possession of her prize. A strange sail was seen 
upon the horizon, bearing down upon the " Constitution " in a way that 
soemed to threaten hostilities. Again the drums beat to quarters, and 
once again the tired crew went to their stations at the guns. But the 
strange ship sheered off, and the gallant crew were not forced to fight a 
second battle. All hands then set to work to remove the prisoners from 
the "Guerriere," which was evidently in a sinking condition. 

Ifi the first boat-load from the sinking ship came Capt. Dacres, who 
was politely shown into Capt. Hull's cabin. Unclasping his sword from 
its place at his hip, the conquered seaman handed it silently to Capt. 
Hull. The victor put it gently back, saying, — 

" No, no, captain : I'll not take a sword from one who knows so well 
how to use it. But I will trouble you for that hat." 

For a moment a shade of perplexity passed over the brow of the 
British captain ; then he recollected the wager of a year or two before, 
and all was clear again. Unfortunately, the veracious chronicler who 
has handed this anecdote down to modern times has failed to state 
whether the debt was duly paid. 

After some hours of hard work with the boats, the last of the 
prisoners, with their effects, were brought on board the "Constitution." 
Torches were then set to the abandoned frigate ; and the sailors watched 
her blaze, until the fire reached her magazine, and she vanished in the 



BLUE -JACKETS OF 1812. 311 

midst of a tremendous explosion. Tlien, leaving behind her the floating 
mass of ruin, the " Constitution " headed for Boston, where she arrived 
after a few days of sailing. 

Great was the excitement and exultation aroused among the people 
by the arrival of the noble ship with her prisoners. She had, indeed, 
come at a time when the public mind required cheering ; for from the 
interior came the reports of British successes by land, along the Canadian 
frontier about Detroit, and for weeks the papers had been unable to 
record any success for the American arms. But the report of the 
engagement with the " Guerriere " changed wholly the tide of popular 
feeling. Boston — the city which at the declaration of war had hung its 
flags at half-mast, in token of mourning and humiliation — Boston wel- 
comed the conquerors with an ovation like to a triumph in the days of 
imperial Rome. 

When the ship came up the harbor, she was met and surrounded 
by a great flotilla of gayly decorated boats ; while the flags on the sur- 
rounding vessels were dipped in salutation as the war-scarred veteran 
made her stately way to the wharf. Here a volunteer artillery company 
was assembled ; and, as the ship came up, they fired a national salute, 
which was returned from the guns so lately employed in defending the 
national honor. Quarters had been prepared for Capt. Hull in the city ; 
and, as he landed, he found the streets through which he must pass 
decked with bright bunting, and crowded with people. His progress was 
accompanied by a great wave of cheers ; for, as the people saw him com- 
ing, they set up a shout, which was not ended until he had passed from 
sight. At night came a grand banquet to the officers of the ship, at 
which six hundred sat down to the feast. The freedom of the city was 
presented to the captain ; and at a later date came the news of sword pres- 
entations from citizens of New York, plate from the people of Philadel- 
phia, and gold medals from Congress. Amid all the exultation, the rash 
arrogance of the British writers was not forgotten ; and many a bumper 
was emptied to the success of the frigate described by British journalists 
as "a bunch of pine boards under a bit of striped bunting." 




CHAPTER V. 



AN INTERNATIONAL DEBATE. — THE "WASP" AND THE " FROLIC." — THE "UNITED 
STATES" AND THE " MACEDONIAN." — OVATIONS TO THE VICTORS. 




HE rejoicing over the success of the "Constitution" had not 
died away in the United States when the English newspapers 
began to appear with elaborate articles, showing just why the 
battle had terminated as it did- " The ' Constitution ' is the crack 
frigate of the American navy," cried the apologists ; but to this the Ameri- 
cans retorted by quoting the British description of the ship as "a bunch of 
pine boards." The "Guerriere" was an "old worn-out frigate," responded 
the English, returning to the charge. " She was on her way to Halifax 
to refit, when attacked." Again they were refuted by their own state- 
ments ; for, but a month before, the "Guerriere" was said to be "able to 
drive the insolent striped bunting from the seas." Throughout the dis- 
cussion, the shrewdness of the AmericaQs enabled them to meet the argu- 
ments of the British at every point ; but not until the charge was made, that 
the "Constitution" was chiefly manned by British sailors, did the people 
become thoroughly in earnest in the war of words. 
312 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 3^3 

Such a charge as this was adding insult to injury. Was not the British 
navy full of Americans who were forced against their will to serve against 
their own country, while the few Englishmen on the " Constitution " were 
enlisted with their own consent ? For Capt. Dacres to say that his ship 
was weakened by allowing the ten Americans to go below, and then beaten 
by the efforts of the Englishmen on the " Constitution," was merely tanta- 
mount to saying that the victory hinged on the fact that Americans would 
not fight against their own country, while Englishmen did so wiUingly. But 
for Great Britain to exclaim against the American navy because it harbored 
a few Englishmen, was the rankest hypocrisy. So said the American jour- 
nalists of the day ; and, in support of their statement, they printed long letters 
from American seamen impressed into and held in the British naval service 
One writes that he was impressed into his British Majesty's ship " Peacock," 
in 1 8 10, and after serving two years he heard of the declaration of war. 
After a consultation with two fellow-seamen, both Americans, all decided to 
refuse to serve longer, claiming to be prisoners of war. But the captain 
under whom they were enrolled looked upon the matter in a different light 
He heard their claim, pronounced it a bit of "confounded insolence," and 
straightway ordered that they be put in irons. After some hours for 
meditation in " the brig," the three sailors were taken to the gangway, 
stripped naked, and tied up, while a sturdy boatswain's mate laid on a 
dozen and a half blows of the cat. Later, when the ship went into 
action with a United States vessel, the three sailors asked to be sent 
below, that they might not fight against their own countrymen ; but the 
iaptain's sole response was to call up a midshipman, and order him to 
do his duty. This duty proved to consist in standing over the three 
malcontents with a loaded pistol, threatening to blow out the brains of 
the first who should flinch from his work. 

Three sailors were impressed after the war had begun. Learning that 
the ship on which they found themselves was to cruise upon the Ameri- 
can station, they with one accord refused to serve. The response to this 
was "five dozen lashes well laid on." Being .still mutinous, they received 
four dozen lashes two days later, and after the lapse of two more days 
vvcre flogged with two dozen more. But all the beating to which they 
were subjected could not compel them to serve against their country ; 
and they were accordingly ironed and thrown into "the brig," where they 



314 BLUt:-JACKETS OF 1812. 

lay for three months. When released from " the brig," they found the 
ship at London. Here they heard of the glorious victory of the " Con- 
stitution," and determined to celebrate it. By ripping up their clothing 
into strips, and sewing the strips together, a rude American flag wai 
made ; and with the most astonishing audacity the three sailors hung this 
emblem over a gun, and gave three cheers for the stars and stripes. 
This naturally brought tlicm another flogging. 

Flogging, however, could not always be resorted to in order to bring 
American sailors into subjection. It is estimated, that, when war was 
declared, there were five times as many American seamen in the British 
navy as were in the whole navy of the United States. To attempt to 
keep this immense body of disaffected seamen in order by the lash, would 
have been impracticable ; and soon the custom arose of sending the more 
refractory tars into confinement at some English prison. Dartmoor prison 
was for a time the principal place of detention for pressed men ; but, as 
it soon became crowded, it was given over to prisoners of war, and the 
hapless seamen were sent to languish in dismantled ships, known as "hulks.' 
These hulks were generally old naval vessels, dismasted and stripped oi 
all their fittings. Anchored midstream in tidal rivers, the rotting hulks 
tugged at their rusty chains, as the tide rose and fell, groaning in their 
bondage, and seeming as much imprisoned as the wretched sailors by 
whom they were tenanted. The captives lived in misery and squalor. 
Crowded together in stifling quarters between decks, they were the piTy 
of vermin of all kinds. Their miserable diet, and lack of proper e.vercise, 
caused the scurvy in its most repulsive forms to break out among them. 
The only breath of fresh air they could obtain was when, in gangs, they 
were allowed to go on deck, and pace up and down under the watchful 
eyes of soldiery ; then back to the crowded quarters below, to swelter in 
summer or freeze in winter. Such was their punishment for the crime 
of being loyal to their country. 

Careful estimates show that at this time there were at least twenty 
thousand American sailors in the British navy, each one of whom was 
liable at any moment to be ordered into this inhuman captivity. A 
British official document of 181 2 reported that 2,548 American seamen 
had been imprisoned for refusing to serve against their country. Hun- 
dreds of these were sent to the living death in the hulks. Was it any 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 315 

wonder that, with such facts before their eyes, Americans grew indignant 
it hearing that the victory of the " Constitution " had been won by the 
prowess of British seamen ? But before many days had passed, a victory 
was recorded for the stars and stripes, which not even the acuteness of 
an English naval historian could ascribe to any cause other than the 
naval superiority of the victor. 

This was the capture, by the United States sloop-of-war "Wasp," of 
the British sloop-of-war " Frolic," after a battle ever memorable for the 
extraordinary dash and bravery shown by each combatant. In size, the 
" Wasp " was one of the inferior vessels of the United States navy. In 
her architecture and appointments, however, she was the pride of the 
navy, and was often cited as a model ship of her class. Her armament 
consisted of sixteen thirty-two-pounder carronades, and two " long 
twelves." 

When the war broke out, the "Wasp" had just left the coast of 
Europe, bearing despatches from the foreign diplomatic representatives 
of the United States to the Government. It was accordingly near thi 
middle of October before the sloop had been refitted, and, with a crew 
of one hundred and thirty-five men, left the Delaware, on her first cruise 
against the English. Her commander was Capt. Jacob Jones, who had 
served in the war with Tripoli, and had himself been a captive among 
the barbarians of Northern Africa. 

After a few days' cruising, with one or two unimportant captures, a 
bunch of sails was sighted at some distance. The most careful exami- 
nation failed to reveal the character of the strangers, and Jones deter- 
mined to run down cautiously toward the squadron, to reconnoitre. The 
wind was blowing fiercely at the time, and a heavy sea was running, 
from the effects of a gale of the day before, in which the " Wasp " lost 
her jib-boom, together with two sailors who were upon it. As the vessel 
bore down upon the strangers, Jones could see through his marine 
glasses that they were a convoy of merchantmen, under the protection 
of a British sloop-of-war. The merchantmen were evidently armed, and 
some seemed to carry as many as twelve guns. Deeming it unwise to 
ittack at that moment, Capt. Jones kept on a course parallel with that 
of the enemy, during the remainder of that day and through the night. 
With the break of day, every officer of the "Wasp" was on deck, and all 



3i6 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



eyes were turned towards the quarter in which the EngUshmen should 
be found. There, sure enough, they were. Si.\ merchant ships and a 
bluff little brig, the port-holes in the sides of which showed her to be 
a war-vessel rating as a sloop. Signs of activity on board made it 
evident that the Englishmen had caught sight of the vessel which had 
been dogging them for the last day, and were making ready to give her 
battle. The British, too, had suffered in the gale, and the sailors could be 
seen shipping a new main-yard, and setting new topsails. On the "Wasp," 




irkvw^^ 



the jackies were hard at work, getting in a spar to take the place of the 
jib boom, which had been lost in the storm. Both ships were under short 
canvas, for the wind was still high. Instead of the English ensign, a 
Spanish flag fluttered from the halliards of the Englishman, — an unneces- 
sary ruse to draw on an adversary already seeking a conflict. 

It was half-past eleven in the morning when the action began. The 
day was an ideal October morning at sea, — cool, clear, and a breeze blowing 
fresh and constantly stiffening. The two vessels were running on the star- 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 317 

board tack, not sixty yards apart. As they ploughed through the waves, great 
clouds of spray dashed over the bows ; and every now and then a wave would 
sweep over the forecastle, drenching the jackies as they stood at their quar- 
ters. As they sped along, the two ships exchanged broadsides, the " Frolic " 
firing three to the "Wasp's" two. After every broadside, the gunners 
cheered as they saw the damage done by their fire. When the state of the 
sea is considered, it seems marvellous that the broadsides should have done 
any execution whatever. The vessels were rolling terribly, now wallowing 
in the trough of the sea, and again tossed high on the crest of some enor- 
mous wave. At one instant the muzzles of the guns would be pointed 
toward the skies, then actually submerged under the waves, from which they 
rose dripping, to be loaded and fired before another dip should soak the 
charge. Yet, with all this rolling to spoil their aim, the gunners of both 
ships pointed their pieces with most destructive effect. Within five minutes 
from the time of opening fire, the main top-mast of the "Wasp" was shot 
away, and hung tangled in the rigging, despite the active efforts of the top- 
men, headed by the nimble midshipmen, to clear away the wreck. Thi? 
greatly hampered the movements of the American vessel ; and when, a few 
minutes later, the gaff and the main top-gallant mast fell, the chances of the 
American ship seemed poor indeed. The effects of the " Wasp's " fire were 
chiefly to be seen in the hull of her antagonist ; but the first twenty minutes 
of the fight seemed to give the Englishman every chance of victory, 
since his fire had so cut away the rigging of the "Wasp" that she be- 
came unmanageable. It is said that the difference between the execution 
done by the two batteries was due to the fact that the British fired as 
their ship was rising on the crest of the wave, while the Americans fired 
from the trough of the sea, sending their shot into the hull of the enemy. 
While the fight was raging, the two ships were constantly drawing 
nearer together ; and just as it seemed as though the destruction wrought 
in the "Wasp's" rigging would inevitably lead to her defeat, the two 
vessels fouled. For an instant they lay yard-arm to yard-arm, and at 
that very moment the American gunners poured in a terrific broadside. 
So close were the two vessels to each other, that, in loading, the rammers 
were shoved up against the sides of the "Frolic." Before the gunners 
of the " Frolic " could respond to this broadside, their ship swung round 
so that her bow lay against the " Wasp's " quarter ; and her bowsprit 



3l8 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

passed over the heads of Capt. Jones and his officers as they stood on 
the quarter-deck. That was the moment for a rakinf; volley ; and witn 
deadly aim the Americans poured it in, and the heavy iron bolts swept 
the decks of the " Frolic " from stem to stern. 

This turn in the tide of battle fairly crazed with excitement the sailors 
of the "Wasp." With ringing cheers they applauded the success of the 
last volley, and, springing into the hammock-nettii-igs, called loudly for 
their officers to lead them on board the English ship. From the quarter- 
deck, Capt. Jones, with shouts and gestures, strove to hold back the 
excited men until another broadside could be given the enemy. But the 
enthusiasm of the sailors was beyond all control. All at once, they saw 
a sailor from New Jersey, named Jack Lang, spring on a gun, cutlass in 
hand, ready to board. All were about to follow him, when Capt. Jones 
called him down. Only for a minute did Jack's sense of duty overcome his 
enthusiasm ; and then, remembering that he had once been impressed on 
the " Frolic," his rage blazed up, and in an instant he was clambering over 

he nettings, calling for followers. Capt. Jones saw that the ardor of his 
.rew was beyond his control, and ordered the bugler to call away the board 
ers. Headed by their officers, the bold tars swarmed over the nettings, 
and through the tangled rigging, to the deck of the enemy's ship. Each 
man clutched his cutlass viciously, for he felt that a desperate conflict was 
imminent. But w-hcn they dropped upon the deck of the " Frolic," a most 
unexpected spectacle met their eyes. 

The broad deck stretched out before them, untenanted save by a few 
wounded officers near the stern, and a grim old British seaman at the 
wheel. Instead of the host of armed men with whom the boarders 
expected to dispute the possession of the ship, they saw before them 
only heaps of dead sailors lying about the guns which they had been 
serving. On the quarter-deck lay Capt. Whinyates and Lieut. Wintle. 

lesperately wounded. All who were unhurt had fled below, to escape 
the pitiless fire of the American guns, and the unerring aim of the 
sailors stationed in the "Wasp's" tops. Only the old helmsman stood 
undaunted at his post, and held the ship on her course, even while the 
Americans were swarming over the nettings and clambering down the 
bowsprit. The colors were still flying above the ship ; but there was no 
one left, either to defend them or to haul them down, and they were 
finally lowered by the hands of Lieut. Biddle, who led the boarding party. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



319 



No action of the war was so sanguinary as this short conflict between 
two sloops-of-war. The "Frolic" went into action with a crew of one 
hundred and ten men, fully officered. When the colors were hauled 
down, only twenty men were uninjured. Every officer was wounded, and 
of the crew thirty lost their lives. They had stood to their guns with the 




RE.\DY TO BOARD. 



dogged courage of the English sailor at his best, and had been fairly 
mowed down by the destructive fire of the Americans. On the "Wasp," 
the loss of life was slight. The shot of the enemy took effect in the 
rigging chiefly. The three sailors who were killed were topmen at 
their posts, and the five wounded were almost all stationed in the rigging. 
The Americans were not destined to enjoy their triumph long. Shat- 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 



tered though the " Frolic " was, Lieut. Biddle, with a prize-crew, took 
charge of her, and was in liopes of taiving her safely to port ; but his 
plan was rudely shattered by the appearance of an English frigate, only 
a f-w hours after the action ceased. For the " Frolic " to escape, was 
out of the question. Both her masts had gone by the board shortly 
after her flag was struck ; and, when the new enemy hove in sight, 
the prize-crew was working hard to clear from her decks the tangled 
mass of rigging, wreckage, and dead bodies, that made the tasks of navi- 
gation impossible. The ship was rolling like a log, in the trough of the 
sea, and was an easy prize for an enemy of even less strength than 
the man-of-war which was then bearing down upon her. 

The vessel which came rapidly down before the wind was the "Poic- 
tiers," a British seventy-four-gun ship, which would have been more than 
a match for the little " Wasp," even though the latter had been fresh 
and ready for battle, instead of shattered by desperate fight. Seeing no 
chance for a successful resistance, Capt. Jones determined upon flight, 
and ordered all hands aloft, to make sail. But the sails when shaken 
3Ut were found to have been cut to pieces by the " Frolic's " shot ; and 
the " Poictiers " soon came alongside, and changed the triumph of the 
Americans to defeat. 

Though Capt. Jones and his gallant crew were thus deprived of their 
hard-won conquest, they received their full meed of praise from their 
countrymen. They were soon exchanged, voted twenty-five thousand 
dollars prize-money by Congress, and lauded by every newspaper and 
legislative orator in the country. The song-writers of the day under- 
took to celebrate in verse the famous victory, and produced dozens of 
songs, of which the following stanza may be taken for a fair sample : — 

"Like the fierce bird of Jove the 'Wasp' darted forth, 

And he the tale told, with amazement and wonder. 
She hurled on the foe from her flame-spreading arms. 

The fire-brands of death and the red bolts of thunder. 
And, oh ! it was glorious and strange to behold 

What torrents of fire from her red mouth she threw; 
And how from her broad wings and sulphurous sides, 

Hot showers of grape-shot and rifle-balls flew!" 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



Let us now turn to Commodore John Rodgers, whose unhicky cruise 
at the opening of the war we have already noted. Having refitted his 
squadron in the port of New York, he set sail on a second cruise, 
leaving behind him the " Hornet." Again he seemed to have fallen 
upon unprofitable times, for his ships beat up and down in the highway 
of commerce without sighting a single sail. After several days of inac- 
tion, it was determined to scatter the squadron ; and to this end the 
frigate " United States," Commodore Decatur, and the sixteen-gun brig 
" Argus," Capt. Sinclair, left the main body of ships and started off on 
a cruise in company. After the two ships left the main body, Commo. 
dore Rodgers met with better success, capturing a Jamaica packet with 
two hundred thousand dollars in her hold, and chasing a British frigate 
for two hours, but without overhauling her. 

In the mean time, the "Argus" had parted from her consort, and was 
cruising to the eastward on her own account, meeting with fair success. 
During her cruise she captured si.x merchantmen, and was herself chased 
by a British squadron. This chase was almost as memorable as that of 
the "Constitution;" for the little brig was hotly pursued for three days 
and nights, and, to escape her pursuers, was obliged to cut away her 
boats and anchors, and part with every thing movable save her guns. She 
escaped at last, however, and was for many months thereafter a source of 
continual annoyance to the commerce of the enemy. 

After parting with the "Argus," the "United States" had made her 
course toward the south-east, in the hopes of intercepting some of the 
British West-Indiamen. But what the plucky sailors would consider better 
luck fell to the lot of the frigate. 

At dawn on a bright Sunday morning, the lookout of the " United 
States " descried a sail about twelve miles away, on the weather-beam. 
Sail was crowded on the American frigate, and, urged along by a rattling 
breeze, she made towards the stranger. As the distance between the 
ships lessened, and the rigging of the stranger showed her to be a frigate, 
the enthusiasm among the gallant tars of the " United States " grew apace. 
Visions of battle, of glory, and, above all, of resultant prize-money, arose 
in their minds ; and their shouts could be heard by the crew of the distant 
frigate before the two vessels came within range of each other. 

The vessel toward which the " United States " was advancing was the 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



" Macedonian," a British frigate rating thirty-eight guns, but said to have 
been carrying forty-nine at this time. She had for some time been 
reckoned a crack ship of her class in the Britisli navy, and her crew was 
in admirable training. From her quarter-deck and forecastle groups of 
officers and seamen were watching the on-coming of the American frigate. 
One of the powder r^onkeys, named Samuel Leech, of the British ship, 
told graphically and simply the story of that day's doings on the 
"Macedonian." 

"Sunday (Dec. 25, 181 2) came, and it brought with it a stiff breeze," 
so runs the powder-monkey's talc. "We usually made a sort of holiday 
of this sacred day. After breakfast it was common to muster the entire 
crew on the spar-deck, dressed as the fancy of the captain might dic- 
tate, — sometimes in blue jackets and white trousers, or blue jackets and 
blue trousers ; at other times in blue jackets, scarlet vests, and blue or 
white trousers ; with our bright anchor-buttons glancing in the sun, and 
our black, glossy hats ornamented with black ribbons, and the name 
jf our ship painted on them. After muster we frequently had church- 
jervice read by the captain ; the rest of the day was devoted to idleness 
But we were destined to spend the rest of the sabbath just introduced 
to the reader in a very different manner. 

" We had scarcely finished breakfast before the man at the masthead 
shouted ' Sail, ho ! ' 

"The captain rushed upon deck, exclaiming, 'Masthead, there!' 

" ' Sir } ' 

" ' Where away is the sail .■' ' 

"The precise answer to this question I do not recollect; but the 
captain proceeded to ask, ' What does she look like .■' ' 

" ' A square-rigged vessel, sir,' was the reply of the lookout. 

" After a few minutes, the captain shouted again, ' Masthead, there ! ' 

" ' Sir > ' 

" ' What does she look like .' ' 

" ' A large ship, sir, standing toward us.' 

" By this time, most of the crew were on deck, eagerly straining 
their eyes to obtain a glimpse of the approaching ship, and murmuring their 
opinions to each other on her probable character. 

"Then came the voice of the captain, shouting, 'Keep silence, fore 
and aft ! ' 




Q5 



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CD 



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BLUE-JACKErS OF 1S12. 323 



" Silence being secured, he hailed the lookout, who to his question of 
•What does she look like?' replied, "A large frigate bearing down upon 
us, sir.' 

"A whisper ran along the crew, that the stranger ship was a Yankee 
frigate. The thought was confirmed by the command of ' All hands clear 
the ship for action, ahoy ! ' The drum and fife beat to quarters, bulk- 
heads were knocked away, the guns were released from their confinement, 
the whole dread paraphernalia of battle was produced ; and, after the 
lapse of a few minutes of hurry and confusion, every man and boy was 
at his post ready to do his best service for his country, except the band, 
who, claiming exemption from the affray, safely stowed themselves away 
in the cable tier. We had only one sick man on the list ; and he, at 
the cry of battle, hurried from his cot, feeble as he was, to take his post 
of danger. A few of the junior midshipmen were stationed below on the 
berth-deck, with orders, given in our hearing, to shoot any man who 
attempted to move from his quarters. 

"As the approaching ship showed American colors, all doubt of her 
character was at an end. 'We must fight her,' was the conviction of every 
breast. Every possible arrangement that could insure success was accord- 
ingly made. The guns were shotted, the matches lighted ; for, although 
our guns were all furnished with first-class locks, they were also furnished 
with matches, attached by lanyards, in case the lock should miss fire. 
A lieutenant then passed through the ship, directing the marines and 
boarders — who were furnished with pikes, cutlasses, and pistols — how 
to proceed if it should be necessary to board the enemy. He was fol- 
lowed by the captain, who e.xhorted the men to fidelity and courage, urging 
upon their consideration the well-known motto of the brave Nelson, 
'England expects every man to do Ins duty.' In addition to all these 
preparations on deck, some men were stationed in the tops with small- 
arms, whose duty it was to attend to trimming the .sails, and to use theii 
muskets, provided we came to close action. There were others, also, 
below, called sail-trimmers, to assist in working the ship, should it be 
necessary to shift her position during the battle." 

Thus, with her men at their quarters, her guns primed, and matches 
lighted, the " Macedonian " bore down to open the action. On the 
" United States," very similar scenes were being enacted. In some 



324 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

respects, the American frigate was a more formidable ship than the adver- 
sary she was about to engage. Her battery consisted of fifty-four guns, 
and some were of heavier calibre than those of the " Macedonian." Her 
crew, too, was rather larger than that of her adversary. But, in most 
respects, the ships were well matched. Indeed, the commanders of the 
two ships had met before the opening of the war, and, in conversation, 
agreed that their vessels were well fitted to test the comparative valor of 
Yankee and English sailors. Capt. Garden of the " Macedonian " had asked 
Decatur what would be the probable result, if the two ships were to meet 
in battle. 

"Why, sir," responded the American captain, "if we meet with forces 
that might be fairly called equal, the conflict would be severe ; but the flag 
of my country on the ship I command shall never leave the staff on which it 
waves, as long as there is a hull to support it." 

Such sentiments as this were ever in the heart of the gallant Decatur, 
whose service in the war of 1S12 was but the continuation of his dashing 
career during the war with Tripoli. A captain of such ardent bravery could 
not fail to inspire his crew with the same enthusiasm and confidence. 

In the crew of the " United States " were many young boys, of ages 
ranging from twelve to fourteen years. At that time many a lad received 
his warrant as midshipman while still in his tenth year ; and youngsters 
who wished to join the navy as "ship's boys," were always received, 
although sometimes their extreme youth made it illegal for their names 
to be formally enrolled upon the roster of the crew. Such was the sta- 
tion of little Jack Creamer, a ten-year-old boy, who had been serving 
on the ship for some weeks, although under the age at which he could 
be legally enlisted. When Jack saw the English frigate looming up in 
the distance, a troubled look came over his face, and he seemed to be 
revolving some grave problem in his mind. His comrades noticed his 
look of care, and rallied him on what they supposed to be his fear of 
the coming conflict. Jack stoutly denied this charge, but said he was 
anxious to speak to the captain before going into action. An old 
quartermaster marched him up to the quarter-deck, and stood waiting for 
Capt. Decatur's attention. In a moment the captain noticed the two, 
and said cheerily, — 

"Well, Jack, what's wanting now.'" 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 3^5 



Touching his hat, the lad replied, " Commodore, will you please to 
have my name put down on the muster-roll ? " 

"Why, what for, my lad?" 

"So that I can draw my share of the prize-money, when we take 
that Britisher, sir." 

Amused and pleased with the lad's confidence in the success of the 
"United States" in the coming battle, Decatur gave the necessary order ; 
and Jack went back to his post with a prouder step, for he was now 
regularly enrolled. 

The two ships were now coming within range of each other, and a 
slow, long-distance cannonade was begun, with but little effect ; for a long 
ground-swell was on, and the ships were rolling in a manner fatal to the 
aim of the gunners. After half an hour of this playing at long bowls, 
the Englishman's mizzen top-mast was shot away ; and the cannon-balls 
from the " States " whizzed through the rigging, and splashed into the 
water about the " Macedonian," in a way that proved the American gun- 
ners had the range, and were utilizing it. Capt. Garden soon saw that 
at long range the American gunners were more than a match for his 
men, and he resolved to throw prudence to the winds ; and, disdaining 
all manoeuvring, bore straight down on the American ship that lay almost 
stationary' on the water, pouring in rapid and well-aimed broadsides. 

Though a gallant and dashing movement, this course led to the defeat 
of the English ship. The fire of the Americans was deadly in its aim, 
and marvellous in rapidity. So continuous was the flashing of the dis- 
charges from the broadside ports, that the sailors on the " Macedonian " 
thought their adversary was on fire, and cheered lustily. But the next 
instant their exultation was turned to sorrow ; for a well-directed shot cut 
away the mizzen-mast, which fell alongside, suspended by the cordage. 

"Huzza, Jack!" cried the captain of a gun on the "United States." 
"We've made a brig of her." 

"Ay, ay, my lad," said Decatur, who stood near by; " now aim well 
at the main-mast, and she'll be a sloop soon." 

A few minutes later, the captain shouted to the nearest gunner, 
" Aim at the yellow streak. Her spars and rigging are going fast enough. 
She must have a little more hulling." 

This order was immediately passed along the gun-deck, until every 



326 BLUE-JACKETS OF 181 2. 

gunner was striving his utmost to plant his shot in the hull of the 
enemy. The effect was terrible. The great missiles crashed through 
the wooden sides of the English frigate, and swept the decks clear of 
men. She was coming down on the American bravely, and with mani- 
fest intention of boarding ; but so skilfully was the " United States " 
manoeuvred, and so accurate and rapid was her fire, that the " Macedo- 
nian " was unable to close, and was fairly cut to pieces, while still more 
than a pistol-shot distant. The " United States," in the mean time, was 
almost unscathed. The aim of the English gunners was usually too 
high, and such shots as took effect were mainly in the rigging. After 
pounding away at the " Macedonian " until the chocks of the forecastle 
guns on that ship were cut away, her boats cut to pieces, and her hull 
shattered with more than one hundred shot-holes, the American ship 
drew away slightly. The British thought she was in retreat, and cheered 
lustily, but were soon undeceived ; for, after a little manoeuvring, the 
' United States " ranged up under her adversary's lee, securing a raking 
position. Before a broadside could be fired, the British hauled down their 
flag; and the action was ended, after just an hour and a half of fighting. 
The slaughter on the British frigate had been appalling. From the 
official accounts, we glean the cold reports of the numbers of the killed and 
wounded ; but for any picture of the scene on the decks of the defeated 
man-of-war, we must turn to such descriptions as have been left by eye- 
witnesses. Sailors are not much given to the habit of jotting down the 
descriptions of the many stirring scenes in which they play parts in 
their adventurous careers; and much that is romantic, much that is pic- 
turesque, and much that is of historic value, has thus been lost to history. 
But of the details of the action between the "Macedonian" and "United 
States," the sailor-lad already quoted has left an account, probably as 
trustworthy as should be expected of a witness in his situation. He was 
stationed at one of the guns on the main-deck ; and it was his duty, as 
powder-boy, to run to the magazine for powder for his gun. Before the 
entrance to the magazine was a heavy wooden screen, pierced with a 
hole through which the cartridges were passed out to the fleet-footed 
powder-monkeys, as they rushed up for more powder. Each boy, on 
getting his cartridge, wrapped it in his jacket, that no stray spark might 
touch it, and dashed off at full speed for his gun, quickly returning for 
further supplies. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 327 

With the men all standing pale and silent at the guns, the " Macedo- 
nian " came on doggedly towards her foe. Three guns fired from the lar- 
board side of the gun-deck opened the action ; but the fire was quickly 
stopped by the gruff order from the quarter-deck, " Cease firing : you are 
throwing away your shot!" Then came the roar of the opening volley 
from the American frigate. 

"A strange noise such as I had never heard before next arrested my 
attention," wrote the English sailor-lad. " It sounded like the tearing of 
sails just over our heads. This I soon ascertained to be the wind of the 
enemy's shot. The firing, after a few minutes' cessation, recommenced. 
The roaring of cannon could now be heard from all parts of our trem- 
bling ship ; and, mingling as it did with that of our foes, it made a most 
hideous noise. By and by I heard the shot strike the sides of our ship. 
The whole scene grew indescribably confused and horrible. It was like 
some awfully tremendous thunder-storm, whose deafening roar is attended 
by incessant streaks of lightning, carrying death in every flash, and strew- 
ing the ground with the victims of its wrath ; only in our case the scene 
was rendered more horrible than that by the presence of torrents of blood, 
which dyed our decks. Though the recital may be painful, yet, as it will 
reveal the horrors of war, and show at what a fearful price the victory is 
won or lost, I will present the reader with things as they met my eye during 
the progress of this dreadful fight. I was busily supplying my gun with 
powder, when I saw blood suddenly fly from the arm of a man stationed at 
our gun. I saw nothing strike him : the effect alone was visible ; and in an 
instant the third lieutenant tied his handkerchief round the wounded arm, 
and sent the poor fellow below to the surgeon. 

"The cries of the wounded now rang through all parts of the ship. These 
were carried to the cock-pit as fast as they fell, while those more fortunate 
men who were killed outright were immediately thrown overboard. As I 
was stationed but a short distance from the main hatchway, I could catch a 
glance at all who were carried below. A glance was all I could indulge in ; 
for the boys belonging to the guns next to mine were wounded in the early 
part of the action, and I had to spring with all my might to keep three or 
four guns supplied with cartridges. I saw two of these lads fall nearly 
together. One of them was struck in the leg by a large shot ; he had to 
suffer amputation above the wound. The other had a grape or canister 



328 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

sent through his ankle. A stout Yorkshire man lifted him in his arms, and 
hurried with him to the cock-pit. He had his foot cut off, and was thus 
made lame for life. Two of the boys stationed on the quarter-deck were 
killed. They were both Portuguese. A man who saw one killed afterwards 
told me that his powder caught fire, and burnt the flesh almost off his face. 
In this pitiable situation the agonized boy lifted up both hands, as if 
imploring relief, when a passing shot instantly cut him in two." 

But the narrative of this young sailor, a boy in years, is almost too 
horrible for reproduction. He tells of men struck by three or four mis- 
siles at once, and hacked to pieces ; of mangled sailors, mortally wounded, 
but still living, thrown overboard to end their sufferings ; of the monoto- 
nous drip of the blood on the deck, as desperately wounded men were 
carried past. The brave seaman who left his bed of sickness for the post 
of duty had his head carried away by a cannon-ball. The schoolmaster 
who looked after the education of the midshipmen was killed. Even a 
poor goat, kept by the officers for her milk, was cut down by a cannon- 
ball, and, after hobbling piteously about the deck, was mercifully thrown 
overboard. And this was Sunday, Christmas Day ! 

The spot amidships where our sailor-lad was stationed must have been 
the hottest station in the whole ship. Many years later, as Herman 
Melville, the author of several exciting sea-tales, was walking the deck 
of a man-of-war with an old negro, "Tawney," who had served on the 
" Macedonian," the veteran stopped at a point abreast the main-mast. 
"This part of the ship," said he, "we called the slaughter-house, on board 
the 'Macedonian.' Here the men fell, five and six at a time. An enemy 
always directs its shot here, in order to hurl over the mast, if possible. 
The beams and carlines overhead in the ' Macedonian ' slaughter-house 
were spattered with blood and brains. About the hatchways it looked 
like a butcher's stall. A shot entering at one of the port-holes dashed 
dead two-thirds of a gun's crew. The captain of the next gun, dropping 
his lock-string, which he had just pulled, turned over the heap of bodies, 
to see who they were ; when, perceiving an old messmate who had sailed 
with him in many cruises, he burst into tears, and taking the corpse 
up in his arms, and going to the side with it, held it over the water n 
moment, and eying it, cried, ' O God ! Tom ' — ' Hang your prayers 
over that thing ! Overboard with it, and down to your gun ! ' The order 
was obeyed, and the heart-stricken sailor returned to his post." 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 329 

Amid such scenes of terror, the British tars fought on doggedlv. cheer- 
ing loudly as they worked their guns, but not knowing why they cheered ; 
for the officers, at least, could see how surely the battle was going against 
them. When the " United States " drew away to repair damages, the 
British officers held a consultation on the quarter-deck. They could not 
but see that their position was hopeless ; and, knowing all further resist- 
ance to be folly, the flag was hauled down. To the pride of the officers, 
the surrender was doubtless a severe blow. But Sam Leech remarks 
pithily, that to him " it was a pleasing sight ; for he had seen fighting 
enough for one Sabbath, — more, indeed, than he wished to see again on 
a week-day." 

Decatur at once hailed, to learn the name of his prize, and then sent 
off a boat with Lieut. Allen to take possession. He found the decks of 
the ship in a fearful state. Many of the crew had found liquor, and 
were drinking heavily. Others were throwing the dead into the sea, 
carrying the wounded below, and sprinkling the deck with hot vinegar, to 
remove the stains and odor of blood. The dead numbered forty-three, and 
sixty-one were wounded. An eye-witness of the terrible spectacle writes 
of it : " Fragments of the dead were distributed in every direction, the 
decks covered with blood, — one continued, agonizing yell of the unhappy 
wounded. A scene so horrible of my fellow-creatures, I assure you, de- 
prived me very much of the pleasure of victory." Yet, with all this terrific 
destruction and loss of life on the " Macedonian," the " United States " was 
but little injured ; and her loss amounted to but seven killed, and five 
wounded. Indeed, so slight was the damage done to the American ship, 
that an hour's active work by her sailors put her in trim for a second battle. 

While Lieut. Allen was examining the muster-rolls of the " Macedo- 
nian," a sailor pushed his way toward the quarter-deck, and cried out 
that he was an impressed American, and that he had seven mates aboard, 
all pressed into the British service. They had all been forced to serve 
against their country, and in the battle three had been killed. Just before 
the battle began, thoy had begged to be sent below, but were peremp- 
torily ordered to stand by their guns, or expect to be treated as muti- 
neers. Now that the battle was over, the five who were left alive begged to 
be taken into the crew of the "United States," which was accordingly done. 

After the " Macedonian " had been formally taken possession of by 



33° BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 

Lieut. Allen, the British officers were removed to the American ship. 
Some of them were inclined to be very surly over their defeat, and by 
words and actions showed their contempt for the Americans, whose pris- 
oners they were. In the first boat which went from the prize to the 
victor was the first lieutenant of the "Macedonian." As he clambered 
down the side of his vessel, he noticed that his baggage had not been 
put in the boat which was to bear him to the American frigate. Turning 
to Lieut. Allen, he said surlily, - 

" You do not intend to send me away without my baggage .' " 

"I hope," responded Allen courteously, "that you do not take us for 
privateersmen." 

" I am sure I don't know by whom I have been taken," was the rude 
reply, which so angered Allen that he peremptorily ordered the fellow to 
take his place in the boat, and be silent. 

Whatever may have been the demeanor of the British captives, they 
met with nothing but the most considerate treatment from the American 
officers. Capt. Garden, on his arrival upon the deck of the victorious 
frigate, was received with the consideration due his rank and the brave 
defence of his vessel. He was conducted at once to Decatur's cabin, on 
entering which he took off his sword, and mutely held it out for Decatur's 
acceptance. Decatur courteously refused to accept it, saying, " Sir, I cannot 
take the sword of a man who has defended his ship so bravely ; but I 
will take your hand." As long as Garden and his officers remained on 
the ship, they were treated with the greatest consideration, and were 
allowed to retain all their personal property. Every attempt was made 
to take away from them the bitter remembrance of their defeat. The 
innate nobility of Decatur's nature is well shown in a letter written to his 
wife a few days after the action. " One-half of the satisfaction," he says, 
" arising from this victory is destroyed in seeing the mortification of poor 
Garden, who deserved success as much as we did who had the good fortune 
to obtain it." When Garden left the ship, he thanked Decatur for his con- 
sideration, and expressed a desire to do likewise by the Americans, should 
he ever be able to turn the tables. 

Amid the heat of battle and the excitement of success, Decatur did not 
forget little Jack Greamer, the lately enrolled ship's boy. Shortly after the 
close of the conflict, he sent for Jack to come to his cabin. Soon a much 
abashed small boy stood before the captain. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 331 

"Well, Jack," said the great man, "we did take her, after all." 

" Yes, your Honor," responded Jack. " I knew we would, before we gave 
her the first broadside." 

"And your share of the prize-money," continued Decatur, " may amount 
to two hundred dollars, if we get her safe into port. Now, what are you 
going to do with so much money ? " 

Jack's eyes had lighted up at the thought of such great wealth. 

"Please, sir," he cried, "I'll send half of it to my mother; and the 
rest will get me a bit of schooling." 

"Well said, Jack," said Decatur warmly; and the interview closed for 
the time. But the captain's interest in the boy was aroused, and for 
years he showed an almost fatherly regard for the lad. Jack had his 
"bit of schooling," then received a midshipman's warrant, and for years 
served with Decatur, giving promise of becoming an able officer. At 
last, however, his career was ended by the accidental upsetting of a boat 
when on a pleasure excursion in the Mediterranean. 

After putting in for a short time at New London, the two ships, 
captor and captive, proceeded down the Sound to New York. Here they 
arrived on the ist of January, 1813 ; and the news-writers of the day 
straightway hailed the "Macedonian" as "a New Year's gift, with the 
compliments of old Neptune." However, the news of the victory had 
spread throughout the land before the ships came up to New York ; for 
Decatur had sent out a courier from New London to bear the tidings to 
Washington. A curious coincidence made the delivery of the despatch as 
impressive as a studied dramatic scene. 

It so happened that the people of Washington had chosen the night 
of Dec. 28 for a grand ball, to be tendered to the officers of the navy, 
and particularly to Capt. Stewart of the "Constellation." A brilliant 
company was gathered, in honor of the occasion. The Secretary of tht.' 
Navy, and other cabinet officers, lent their presence to the festivities. 
Capt. Hull of the victorious "Constitution" was present; and, to make 
the affair even more of a triumph, the captured colors of the " Alert " 
and the " Guerriere " were draped on the wall of the hall. Near midnight, 
the revelry was at its height. The brilliant toilets of the ladies ; the 
men, gorgeous in the uniforms of the army, navy, or diplomatic corps ; 
the light of a thousand wa.x-candles flashing from a myriad of sconces, — 
12 



332 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



made the scene one of the utmost splendor. All at once, in the midst 
or the stately measures of the old-fashioned minuet, a murmur rose near 
the entrance to the hall, and spread until every one was whispering, that 
news had come of a great naval battle, a victory. Word was brought to 
the Secretary of the Navy. He directed that the bearer of the despatches 
should be at once admitted ; and, amid cheers and clapping of hands, 
Lieut. Hamilton entered the hall, and delivered his despatches to hij 
father, the Secretary of the Navy. The tenor of the despatch was soon 
known to all ; and Lieut. Hamilton turned from the greetings of his mother 
and sisters, who were present, to receive the congratulations of his brother- 
officers. He had brought the colors of the captured ship with him to the 
city; and Capts. Stewart and Hull immediately went in search of them, 
and soon returned, bearing the flag between them. The two veteran 
sailors marched the length of the hall, amid the plaudits of the gay com- 
pany, and laid the colors before Mrs. Madison, — the Dolly Madison who 
is still remembered as the most popular of the "ladies of the White 
House." Then the company proceeded to the banquet-hall, where, to the 
list of toasts already prepared, was added, "The health of Commodore 
Decatur and the officers and crew of the 'United States.'" 

Two weeks later, Capt. Decatur and his officers and the crew of the 
" United States " were sumptuously entertained by the citizens of New 
York. The officers were tendered a banquet in the great assembly-room 
of the City Hotel, which was decked with laurel and ship's spars and 
sails. The chief table at the head of the room, at which sat Mayor De 
Witt Clinton and Capts. Hull and Decatur, was a marvel of decoration. 
Its centre was taken up by a sheet of water with grassy banks, bearing 
on its placid surface a miniature frigate floating at her moorings. Each 
of the smaller tables bore a small frigate on a pedestal in the centre of 
the board. On the wall at the end of the room hung a heavy sail, on 
which was printed the motto, — 

"OUR CHILDREN ARE THE PROPERTY OF THEIR COUNTRY." 

After the dinner was ended and the toasts were begun, the health of 
the navy was proposed. At the word, the great sail began to ascend, 
and, being drawn to the ceiling;, disclosed an illuminated transparent 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. .V^3 



painting, showing vividly the scenes of the three great actions won by 
the "Constitution," the "United States," and the "Wasp." The wholo 
company rose and cheered, until the walls of the hall fairly rung. 

Three days later, the jackies from the forecastle of the " United States " 
were entertained. They were landed at the Battery, and marched in 
procession to the hotel, headed by a brass band which had been captured 
with the "Macedonian." Four hundred of the fine fellows were in the 
line, clad in the dress uniform of the navy of that time. Glazed canvas 
hats with stiff rims, decked with streamers of ribbon ; blue jackets but- 
toned loosely over red waistcoats ; and blue trousers with bell-buttons, — 
made up the toggery of the tar of 1812. As they marched, two by two, 
through the narrow streets that led to the City Hotel, the populace 
assembled on the sidewalks and in the windows along the route, greeting 
the jackies with cheers. The rear was brought up by the usual band of 
street-urchins, each of whom that day was firm in his determination to 
be a sailor. 

After the banquet at the hotel, the sailors were marched to the theatre, 
where the pit had been set aside for them. The orchestra opened with 
" Yankee Doodle ; " but the first bar had hardly been played, when the 
cheers of the blue-jackets fairly drowned the music, and the musicians 
were fain to stop. The programme had been arranged with special regard 
to the seafaring audience. Little children bounded upon the stage, bearing 
huge letters in their hands, and, after lightly whirling through the mazes 
of the dance, grouped themselves so that the letters formed the words, — 

HULL. JONES, DECATUR. 

Then came more cheers from the pit ; and more than one glazed hat 
soared over the heads of the audience, and fell on the stage, — a purely 
nautical substitute for a bouquet. Late at night, the sailors returned to 
their ship, elated with an ovation the like of which has never since beco 
tendered to the humble heroes of the forecastle or the ranks. 




CHArXER VI. 



BAINBRIDGE TAKES COMMAND OF THE " CONSTITUTION." — THE DE- 
FEAT OF THE "JAVA." — CLOSE OF THE YEAR'S HOSTILITIES ON 
THE OCEAN. 



_^rvs»5sjS Hull and Decatur sat in the gayly decorated banquet-hall at 
^'AyX- "^t-'w York, and, amid the plaudits of the brilliant assembly, 
_^/^/lN^ drank bumpers to the success of the navy, they litttle thought 



that thousands of miles away the guns of an American frigate 
were thundering, and the stout-hearted blue-jackets laying down their 
lives for the honor and glory of the United States. But so it was. The 
opening year of the war was not destined to close without yet a fourth 
naval victory for the Americans ; and, at the very moment when they 
were so joyfully celebrating the glories already won, Capt. Bainbridge in 
the good ship " Constitution " was valiantly giving battle to a British 
frigate far south of the equator. 

Before considering the details of this last action of the year 1812, let 
us recount briefly the movements of some American vessels in commis- 
334 



BLUE-JACKETS OF i8iz. 335 

sion at this time. After sending the " Guerriere " to the bottom of th& 
sea, and bringing her officers and crew in triumph into Boston, Capt. 
Hull had voluntarily relinquished the command of the "Constitution," in 
order that some other officer might win laurels with the noble frigate. 
In his place was appointed Capt. Bainbridge, who had served in the 
wars with France and Tripoli. After a short time spent in refitting, 
Bainbridge sailed from Boston, accompanied by the " Hornet," eighteen 
guns. The " Esse.x," thirty-two, Capt. Porter, was lying in the Delaware 
at the time Bainbridge left Boston, and her captain was ordered to cruise 
in the track of British West-Indiamen. After spending some time in 
this service, he was to turn southward and visit several South American 
ports, with a view to joining Bainbridge. Should he fail to find the 
" Constitution," he was free to act at his own discretion. This permis- 
sion gave Porter an opportunity to make a cruise seldom equalled in 
naval annals, and which will form the subject of a subsequent chapter. 

The "Constitution" and "Hornet" left Boston on the 26th of October, 
and shaped their course at once for the south. They put in at two or 
three ports which had been nam.cd to Capt. Porter as meeting-places, 
but, finding no trace of the " Esse.x," continued their cruise. At Port 
Praya in the island of St. Jago, and at Fernando Noronha, the two 
ships assumed the character of British men-of-war. Officers from whose 
uniform every trace of the American eagle had been carefully removed 
went ashore, and, after paying formal visits to the governors of the two 
islands, requested permission to leave letters for Sir James Yeo of His 
Majesty's service. Though directed to this prominent British naval officer, 
the letters were intended for Capt. Porter, and contained directions for 
his cruise, written in sympathetic ink. After the letters were deposited, 
the two vessels left ; and we may be sure that the British colors came 
down from the masthead as soon as the ships were out of sight. 

The next point at which the American ships stopped was San Sal- 
vador, on the coast of Brazil. Here Bainbridge lay-to outside the harbor, 
and sent in Capt. Lawrence with the " Hornet " to communicate with 
the American consul. Lawrence returned greatly excited In the harbor 
he had found the British sloop-of-war "Bonne Citoyenne," of twenty 
guns, vvliich was on the point of sailing for England. A more evenly 
matched adversary for the " Hornet " could not have been found, and 



2>i^ 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 



. the Yankee sailors longed for an engagement. A formal challenge was 
sent, through the American consul, to the captain of the British ship, 
requesting him to come out and try conclusions with the "Hornet." 
Every assurance was offered that the " Constitution " would remain in 
the oflfing, and take no part in the battle, which was to test the strength 
of the two equally matched ships only. Some days later, this challenge 
was reduced to writing, and sent to the English captain. But that 
officer declined the challenge, giving as his reason the fact that he had 
in his ship over half a million pounds in specie, which it was his dutj 




ASSUMING TO BE BRITISH MEN-OF-WAR. 



to convey to England. For him to give battle to the " Hornet," \voi>id 
therefore be unwise, as he would put in jeopardy this money which it 
was his duty to guard. This response was conclusive, and the English- 
•nan must be admitted to have acted wisely ; but the knowledge of the 
valuable cargo of the "Bonne Citoyennc " only increased the desire of 
the Americans to capture her. The " Hornet " accordingly remained 
outside the harbor, as a blockadcr, while the "Constitution" continued 
her cruise alone. 

She had not far to go in order to meet an enemy well worthy of her 
metal. Three days after parting with the " Hornet," two sail were made, 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 337 

well in shore. One of the vessels so sighted seemed to make for the 
land, as though anxious to avoid meeting the American ship ; while the 
other came about, and made her course boldly toward the " Constitution." 

It was about nine o'clock on a bright December morning that the 
" Constitution " encountered the strange vessel, which bore down upon her. 
A light breeze, of sufficient force to enable the vessels to manoeuvre, was 
blowing ; but the surface of the ocean was as placid as a lake in summer. 
The build of the stranger left no doubt of her warlike character, and the 
bold manner in which she sought a meeting with the American ship con- 
vinced Bainbridge that he had fallen in with an enemy. The " Constitu- 
tion " did not for a time meet the enemy's advances in kind. Back of 
the advancing frigate could be seen the low, dark coast-line of Brazil, 
into whose neutral waters the Englishman could retreat, and thus gain 
protection, if the conflict seemed to go against him. Bainbridge deter- 
mined that the coming battle should be fought beyond the possibility of 
escape for the vanquished, and therefore drew away gradually as the 
stranger came on. By noon the two ships were near enough together 
for flags to be visible, when Bainbridge set his colors, and displayed pri- 
vate signals. The enemy did the same ; and, though his signals were 
unintelligible, the flag that fluttered at the masthead was clearly the flag 
of Great Britain. Bainbridge continued his retreat for an hour longer, 
then, being far enough from land, took in his main-sail and royals, and 
tacked toward the Englishman. 

By this time the strange sail which had been sighted in company with 
the English ship had disappeared. The low-lying coast of Brazil had sunk 
below the horizon. From the deck of the " Constitution," nothing could be 
seen but the vast circle of placid ocean, and the English frigate about a mile 
to the windward, bearing down to open the fight. The drums beat, and the 
crew went quietly and in perfect order to their quarters. They were no 
longer the raw, untrained crew that had joined the ship some months before. 
They were veterans, with the glorious victory over the " Guerriere " fresh in 
their remembrance, and now animated with a desire to add to their trophies 
the strange vessel then in sight. 

As the enemy, which proved to be the "Java," thirty-eight, Capt. Lam- 
bert, came nearer, she hauled down her colors, leaving only a jack flying. A 
jack is a small flag hoisted at the bowsprit cap. The Union jack of the 



338 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

United States navy is a blue flag dotted with stars, but without the stripes 
of the nationn] flag ; the jack of Great Britain lias the scarlet cross of St. 
George on a blue field. The Englishman's action in hauling down his 
ensigns puzzled Bainbridge, who sent a shot as an order that they be raised 
again. The response to this reminder came in the form of a heavy broad- 
side, and the action opened. 

In the light wind that was blowing, the enemy proved the better sailer, 
and soon forged ahead. His object was to cross the bows of the Ameri- 
can ship, and get in a raking broadside, — the end and aim of most of the 
naval manoeuvring in those days of wooden ships and heavy batteries. 
By skilful seamanship, Bainbridge warded off the danger ; and the fight 
continued broadside to broadside. The firing on both sides was rapid 
and well directed. After half an hour of fighting, the "Constitution" 
was seriously crippled by a round shot, which carried away her wheel, 
and wounded Bainbridge by driving a small copper bolt deep into his 
thigh. For a moment it seemed as though the American ship was lost. 
Having no control over the rudder, hef head fell off, her sails flapped 
idly against the spars, and the enemy was fast coming into an advantageous 
position. But, though wounded, the "indomitable Yankee captain was equal 
to the occasion. Tackle was rigged upon the rudder-post between decks, 
and a crew of jackies detailed to work the improvised helm. The helms- 
men were far out of earshot of the quarter-deck : so a line of midshipmen 
was formed from the quarter-deck to the spot where the sailors tugged at 
the steering-lines. 

" Hard-a-port ! " Bainbridge would shout from his station on the 
quarter-deck. 

" Hard-a-port ! Hard-a-port ! " came the quick responses, as the mid- 
shipmen passed the word along. And so the ship was steered ; and, not- 
withstanding the loss of her wheel, fairly out-manceuvred her antagonist. 
i"he first raking broadside was delivered by the " Constitution," and did 
terrible execution along the gun-deck of the English ship. The two ships 
then ran before the wind, exchanging broadsides at a distance of half 
pistol-shot. At this game the American was clearly winning : so the 
Englishman determined to close and board, in the dashing, fearless way 
that had made the tars of Great Britain the terror of all maritime 
peoples. The frigate bore down on the "Constitution," and struck her 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



339 



on the quarter ; the long jib-boom tearing its way through the rigging 
of the American ship. But, while this movement was being executed, 
the American gunners had not been idle ; and the results of their labors 
were very evident, in the rigging of the "Java." Her jib-boom and hr^w. 




r 



MARINES PICKING OFK THE ENEMY. 



sprit were so shattered by .shot, that they were on the point of giving way , 
and, as the sh'ps met, the niizzen-mast fell, crashing through forecastle 
and main-deck, crushing officers and sailors beneath it in the fall, and 
hurling the topmen into the ocean to drown. The " Constitution " 



340 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

shot ahead, but soon wore and lay yard-arm to yard-arm with her foe. 
For some minutes the battle raged with desperation. A dense sulphu- 
rous smoke hung about the hulls of the two ships, making any extended 
vision impossible. Once in a while a fresher puff of wind, or a chapge 
in the position of the ships, would give the jackies a glimpse of their 
enemy, and show fierce faces glaring from the open ports, as the great 
guns were drawn in for loading. Then the gray pall of smoke fell, and 
nothing was to be seen but the carnage near at hand. The ofificers on 
the quarter-deck could better judge of the progress of the fray; and, 
the marines stationed there took advantage of every clear moment to 
pick off some enemy with a shot from one of their muskets. High 
up in the tops of the "Constitution" were two small howitzers, with 
which crews of topmen, under the command of midshipmen, made lively 
play with grape and canister upon the crowded decks of the enemy. 
From the cavernous submarine depths of the cock-pit and magazine, to 
the tops of each ship, not an idler was to be found. Chaplains, surgeons, 
clerks, cooks, and waiters — all were working or fighting for the honor 
of the flag under which they served. 

Again the British determined to board ; and the quick, sharp notes of 
the bugle calling up the boarders gave warning of their intentions. The 
men in the tops of the American frigate, looking down from their lofty 
station, could see the crowd of boarders and marines gathered on the fore- 
castle and in the gang-ways, and could hear the shrill notes of the boat- 
swain's whistle cheering them on. At that moment, however, the Ameri- 
can fire raked the enemy with fearful effect, and the volleys of musketry 
from the marines and topmen made such havoc among the crowded 
boarders that the attempt was abandoned. The deadly fire of the 
Americans was not slackened. Capt. Lambert was struck down, mortally 
wounded; and the command fell upon Lieut. Chads, who, though himself 
oadly wounded, continued the fight with true British courage. Over the 
side of the "Java " hung the wreck of her top-hamper, which every broad- 
side set on fire. Yet the British tars fought on, cheering lustily, and 
not once thinking of surrender, though they saw their fore-mast gone, 
their mizzen-mast shivered, even the last flag shot away, and the last 
gun silenced. 

When affairs had reached this stage, the "Constitution," seeing no 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



34' 



flag flying on the enemy, hauled away, and set about repairing her own 
dauQages. While thus engaged, the main-mast of the "Java" was seen 
to y^ by the board, and the ship lay a hopeless wreck upon the water. 




N THE CROSS-TREES. 



After making some slight repairs, Bainbridge returned to take possession 
of his prize, but, to his surprise, found a jack still floating over the help- 
less hulk. It was merely a bit of bravado, however; for, as the " Consti- 
tution " ranged up alongside, the jack was hauled rlnvu^. 



342 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

The "Java" proved to be a rich prize. She was one of the best of 
tne English frigates, and had just been especially fitted up for the 
accommodation of the governor-general of Bombay and his staff, all of 
whom were then on board. This added to the regular number of officers 
and crew more than one hundred prisoners, mostly of high rank in 
British military and social circles. 

The boarding officer found the ship so badly cut up that to save her 
was impossible. Her loss in men, including her captain Henry Lambert, 
and five midshipmen, was forty-eight, together with one hundred and 
five wounded, among whom were many officers. The "Constitution" had 
suffered much less severely, having but twelve killed and twenty wounded. 
The ship herself was but little damaged ; her chief injury being the loss 
of her wheel, which was immediately replaced by that of the "Java." 

Capt. Bainbridge now found himself a great distance from home, with 
a disabled ship filled with prisoners, many of whom were wounded. 
Even had the wreck of the "Java" been less complete, it would have 
'oeen hazardous to attempt to take her back to the United States through 
the West India waters that swarmed with British vessels. No course 
was open save to take the prisoners aboard the " Constitution," and set 
the torch to the disabled hulk. 

To do this was a work of no little difficulty. The storm of lead and 
iron that had swept across the decks of the British frigate had left 
intact not one of the boats that hung from the davits. The " Constitu- 
tion " had fared better ; but, even with her, the case was desperate, for 
the British cannonade had left her but two serviceable boats. To trans- 
fer from the sinking ship to the victorious frigate nearly five hundred 
men, over a hundred of whom were wounded, was a serious task when 
the means of transfer were thus limited. 

Three days the " Constitution " lay by her defeated enemy, and hour 
after hour the boats plied between the two ships. The first to be 
moved were the wounded. Tackle was rigged over the side of the 
"Java;" and the mangled sufferers, securely lashed in their hammocks, 
were gently lowered into the waiting boat, and soon found themselves in 
the sick-bay of the American ship, where they received the gentlest 
treatment from those who a few hours before sought only to slay them. 
The transfer of the wounded once accomplished, the work proceeded with 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 343 

great rapidity: and in the afternoon of the third day the "Constitution" 
was filled with prisoners; and the "Java," a deserted, shattered hulk, 
was ready for the last scene in the drama of her career. 

The last boat left the desolate wreck, and, reaching the " Constitu- 
tion," was hauled up to the davits. The side of the American frigate 
next to the abandoned ship was crowded with men, who looked eagerly 
across the water. Tnrough the open port -holes of the "Java," a flick- 
ering gleam could be seen, playing fitfiily upon the decks and gun- 
carriages. The light grew brighter, and sharp-tongued flames licked the 
outside of the hull, and set the tangled cordage in a blaze. With this 
the whole ship seemed to burst into fire, and lay tossing, a huge ball of 
flame, on the rising sea. When the fire was raging most fiercely, there 
came a terrific explosion, and the great hull was lifted bodily from the 
water, falling back shattered into countless bits. Guns, anchors, and iron- 
work dragged the greater part of the wreckage to the bottom ; and when 
the " Constitution," with all sail set, left the spot, the captive English- 
men, looking sadly back, could see only a patch of charred wood-work 
and cordage floating upon the ocean to mark the burial-place of the 
sturdy frigate " Java." 

The " Constitution " made sail for San Salvador, where the prisoners 
were landed ; first giving their paroles not to serve against the " United 
States " until regularly exchanged. Bainbridge then took his ship to 
Boston, where she arrived in February, 18 13. 

The substitution of the wheel of the " Java " for that of the " Con- 
stitution," shot away in battle, has been alluded to. In his biography of 
Capt. Bainbridge, Fenimore Cooper relates a story of interest regarding 
this trophy. It was a year or two after peace was made with England, 
in 1815, that a British naval officer visited the "Constitution," then 
lying at the Boston navy-yard. The frigate had been newly fitted out for 
a cruise to the Mediterranean ; and an American officer, with some pride, 
showed the Englishman over the ship, which was then undoubtedly the 
finest of American naval vessels. After the tour of the ship had been 
made, the host said, as they stood chatting on the quarter-deck, — 

"Well, what do you think of her.'" 

" She is one of the finest frigates, if not the very finest, I ever put 

my foot aboard of," responded the Englishman : " but, as I must find 
15 



344 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



some fault, I'll just say that your wheel is one of the clumsiest things I 
ever saw, and is unworthy of the vessel." 

The American officer laughed. 

"Well, you see," said he, "when the 'Constitution' took the 'Java,' 
the former's wheel was shot out of her. The 'Java's' wheel was fitted 
on the victorious frigate, to steer by ; and, although we think it as ugly 
as you do, we keep it as a trophy." 

All criticisms on the wheel ended then and there. 

The defeat of the "Java" closed the warfare on the ocean during 
1812. The year ended with the honors largely in the possession of the 
United States navy. The British could boast of the capture of but two 
armed vessels, — the "Nautilus," whose capture by an overwhelming force 
we have already noted; and the little brig "Vixen," twelve guns, which 
Sir James Yeo, with the " Southampton," thirty-two, had overhauled and 
captured in the latter part of November. The capture of the " Wasp " 
by the " Poictiers," when the American sloop-of-war was cut up by her 
action with the " Frolic," was an occurrence, which, however unfortunate 
tor the Americans, reflected no particular honor upon the British arms. 

In opposition to this record, the Americans could boast of victory in 
four hard-fought battles. In no case had they won through any lack of 
valor on the part of their antagonists ; for the Englishmen had not 
sought to avoid the battle, and had fought with the dogged valor char- 
acteristic of their nation. In one or two instances, it is true that the 
Americans were more powerful than the foe whom they engaged ; but, in 
such cases, the injury inflicted was out of all proportion to the disparity 
in size of the combatants. The four great actions resulting in the defeat 
of the "Guerriere," the "Frolic," the "Macedonian," and the "Java," 
showed conclusively that the American blue-jackets were equal in courage 
to their British opponents, and far their superiors in coolness, skill, dis- 
cipline, and self-reliance ; and these qualities may be said to have won 
the laurels for the American navy that were conceded to it by all 
impartial observers. 

Besides the victories over the four British ships enumerated, the 
Americans had captured the " Alert," and a British transport bearing a 
considerable detachment of troops. These achievements, as involving no 
bloodshed, may be set off against the captures of the " Nautilus " and 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 345 

"Vixen" by the British. Of the number of British merchant-vessels 
captured, the records are so incomplete that no accurate estimate can be 
made. To the naval vessels are accredited forty-six captures among the 
enemy's merchant-marine, and this estimate is probably very nearly accu- 
rate. But with the declaration of war, Portsmouth, Salem, New London, 
New York, Baltimore, and, indeed, every American seaport, fitted out fleet 
privateers to prey upon the enemy's commerce. The sails of this private 
armed navy fairly whitened the sea, and few nights were not illuminated 
by the flames of some burning prize. As their chief object was plunder, 
the aim of the privateers was to get their prize safely into port ; but, 
when this was impossible, they were not slow in applying the torch to 
the captured vessel. The injury they inflicted upon the enemy was 
enormous, and the record of their exploits might well engage the indus- 
try of painstaking historians. As an adjunct to the regular navy, they 
were of great service in bringing the war to a happv conclusion. 

It is not to be supposed that the British men-of-war and privateers 
were idle while the Americans were thus sweeping the seas. More than 
jOne American vessel set sail boldly from some little New England port, 
freighted with the ventures of all classes of tradesmen, only to be snapped 
up by a rapacious cruiser. But the mercantile marine of the United 
States was but small, and offered no such rewards to enterprising priva- 
teers as did the goodly fleets of West-Indiamen that bore the flag of 
Great Britain. And so, while the American privateers were thriving and 
reaping rich rewards of gold and glory, those of the British were gradu- 
ally abandoning privateering in disgust. The American prize-lists grew 
so large, that the newspapers commenced the practice of publishing 
weekly a list of the enemy's ships taken during the week past. In 
Baltimore, Henry Niles, in his paper "The Weekly Register," robbed 
"The London Naval Chronicle" of its vainglorious motto, — 

" The winds and seas are Britain's broad domain, 
And not a sail iiut by perni.ssion spreads." 

This sentiment Niles printed at the head of his weekly list of British 
vessels captured by United States vessels, — a bit of satire not often 
equalled in the columns of newspapers of to-day. 




CHAPTER VII. 



THE WAR ON THE LAKES. — THE ATTACK ON SACKETTS HARBOR. - OLIVER HAZARD PERRY 
ORDERED TO LAKE ERIE. —THE BATTLE OF PUT-IN-BAY. 




ET US now abandon for a time our consideration of the progress 
of the great naval war on the ocean, and turn our attention to 
a humbler theatre, in which the drama of battle was proceeding 
with no less credit to the American participants, though with 
less grand and inspiring accessories. On the great fresh-water lakes 
which skirt the northern frontier of the United States, the two warring 
powers contended fiercely for the mastery. But there were no desperate 
duels between well-matched frigates ; nor, indeed, did either the British 
or American squadron of the lake station boast a craft of sufficient 
armament to be termed a frigate, until the war was nearly at an end. 
Barges, gunboats, sloops, schooners, and brigs made up the squadrons 
that fought for the possession of the fresh-water seas ; and few either of 
the jackies of the forecastle or the officers of the quarter-deck were bred 
to the regular service. With such forces it could only happen that the 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 347 

encounters of the foes should be little more than skirmishes, and that 
neither in immediate loss of life nor in direct results should these skir- 
mishes be important. Such, in fact, was the general character of the 
hostilities on the lakes, with two noteworthy exceptions, — Perry's victory 
at Put-in-Bay, and McDonough's successful resistance of the British on 
Lake Champlain. 

That the war should invade the usually peaceful waters of Ontario, 
Erie, and Champlain, was inevitable from the physical characteristics of 
the northern frontier of the United States. Great Britain held Camkda ; 
and an invasion of her enemy's territory from that province was a military 
measure, the advisability of which was evident to the most untaught 
soldier. No overland expedition could hope to make its way through the 
dense forests of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, or the Adirondack 
region of New York. But the lakes offered a tempting opening for inva- 
sion. Particularly did the placid, navigable waters of Lake Champlain, 
stretching from the Canada line far into the heart of New York, invite 
the invader; while Lakes Erie and Ontario afforded an opportunity for 
attacking the Americans on what was then, practically, their western 
frontier. 

The Americans were not slow in perceiving the dangers that threat- 
ened their north-western frontier, and began to prepare for its defence 
most energetically at the first declaration of war. It was a work that 
taxed to the utmost the resources of the young country. The shores of 
the lakes as far west as Detroit were open to the attacks of the enemy, 
and, although part of the territory of the United States, were really more 
accessible to the invaders than to the American defenders. The popula- 
tion was sparse, and the means of transportation very primitive. Before 
the days of railroads, canals, or even well-kept turnpikes, troops, seamen, 
ordnance, and all munitions of war could only be transported from the 
cities on the seacoast by the most laborious hauling over roads hardly 
vvorthy of the name. Nor was the transportation problem solved during 
the continuance of the war. When in May, 1814, the new United States 
frigate "Superior" lay at her dock at Sackett's Harbor, her ordnance, 
stores, and cordage had to be brought from Oswego Falls, some fifty 
miles away. A clear water-route by the Oswego River and the lake 
offered itself; but Sir James Yeo, with his squadron, was blockading the 



348 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

mouth of the harbor, and the chance for blockade-runners was small 
indeed. To carry the heavy ordnance and cables overland, was out of the 
question. The dilemma was most perplexing, but Yankee ingenuity finally 
enabled the " Superior " to get her outfit. The equipment was loaded 
upon a small fleet of barges and scows, which a veteran lake captain took 
to a point sixteen miles from the blockaded harbor. By sailing by niglit, 
and skulking up creeks and inland water-ways, the transports reached this 
point without attracting the attention of the blockading fleet. They had, 
however, hardly arrived when news of the enterprise came to the ears of 
the British, and an expedition was sent to intercept the Americans, which 
expedition the Yankees successfully resisted. The question then arose as 
to how the stores were to be taken across the sixteen miles of marsh 
and forest that lay between the boats and the navy-yard at Sackett's 
Harbor. The cannon and lighter stores were transported on heavy carts 
with great difficulty, but there still remained the great cable. How to 
move this was a serious question. No cart could bear its ponderous 
weight of ninety-six hundred pounds. Again Yankee ingenuity and pluck 
came to the rescue. Two hundred men volunteered to carry the great 
rope on their shoulders, and in this way it actually was transported. 
Along the shore of the little creek the great cable was stretched out 
with prodigious labor, and lay there looking like a gigantic serpent. The 
two hundred men ranged themselves along the line at regular intervals, 
and at a given signal hoisted the burden to their shoulders. At the word 
of command, all stepped off briskly together, and the long line wound 
along the narrow path through the forests. They started out cheerily 
enough, enlivening the work with songs and jests ; but at the end of the 
first mile all were glad enough to throw down the load, and loiter a while 
by the roadside. A few minutes' rest, and up and on again. Now arms 
began to ache, and shoulders to chafe, under the unusual burden; but the 
march continued until noon of the next day, when the footsore and weary 
carriers marched proudly into Sackett's Harbor, to find sailors and soldiers 
assembled to greet them with bands and cannon-firing. In accordance 
with the custom of the time, these demonstrations of honor were supple- 
mented by the opening of a barrel of whiskey, in honor of the arrival of 
the cable. 

This incident, trivial in itself, is typical of that ingenuity and fertility 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 349 



of resource, which, more than any thing else, contributed to the success of 
the Americans, not only in the lake operations of the war of 1S12, but in 
every war the nation has since undertaken. But the advantages gained 
by Yankee enterprise and ingenuity were, perhaps, more evident in the 
operations on Lake Ontario and Lake Erie than in the operations ol 
the armies, or of the fleets upon the ocean. The great contest lay more 
in the rapid building of ships than in fighting them. At the outset the 
enemy were better equipped for the struggle than were the Americans. 
The Canadian frontier had been longer settled, and could lend more men 
to the needs of the nation. More than this, the route to the ocean by 
the St. Lawrence River made it really easier to transport naval stores 
from far-off Liverpool to the British naval station on the shores of Lake 
Ontario, than to carry like goods across the wooded hills of New York. 
Nor were the British altogether without naval resources upon the lakes 
at the hour when war was declared. On Lake Erie the English flag 
waved over the " Royal George," twenty-two ; " Prince Regent," sixteen ; 
"Earl of Moira," fourteen; "Gloucester," ten; "Seneca," eight; an.i 
■' Simcoe," eight. Opposed to this squadron was but one United States 
/essel, — the "Oneida," a man-of-war brig carrying sixteen twenty-four- 
pound carronades. On Lake Erie the British had a squadron of six 
vessels, carrying in all forty-six guns. 

Hostilities opened early on Lake Ontario. For some time before the 
formal declaration of war, a desultory warfare had been waged by the 
Americans and Canadians about Niagara. Canadian schooners had been 
seized on account of alleged violations of the revenue and embargo regu- 
lations of the United States. The resentment of the sufferers was aroused, 
and tlicy only awaited a suitable opportunity to retaliate. The opportunity 
soon came, in the form of the declaration of war ; and a body of Canadian 
volunteers attacked eight American schooners, near the Thousand Isles, 
and burned two of them. 

With the opening of the war, the United States authorities had fixed 
upon Sackett's Harbor as the naval station for Lake Ontario. In the 
harbor, on the 19th of July, 1812, lay the "Oneida," which had lately 
come into port after a short cruise in search of British schooners. At 
early dawn of the day mentioned, the lookout reported five ships in the 
offing, and a few minutes later hailed the deck, to report them to be 



350 r.I.UE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

British ships-of-war. The alarm quickly spread over the little town. Puny 
though the British fleet would have appeared upon the ocean, it was of 
ample power to take the "Oneida" and destroy the village. Before the 
villagers fairly understood their peril, a small boat came scudding into 
the harbor before the wind. It bore a message from the British com- 
mander, demanding that the " Oneida " and the " Lord Nelson " (a cap- 
tured Canadian vessel) be surrendered. Should the squadron be resisted, 
he warned the inhabitants that their town should be burned to the 
ground. 

Commander Woolsey, who commanded the " Oneida," was a United 
States officer of the regular service, and a man of courage and fertility 
of resource. Unable to take his vessel out into the lake, he moored her 
at the entrance of the harbor in such a way that her broadside of nine 
guns might be brought to bear on the enemy. All hands then set to 
work getting the other broadside battery ashore ; and, by the aid of the 
villagers, these guns were mounted on a hastily thrown up redoubt on 
the shore. At the foot of the main street of the village was planted a 
queerly assorted battery. The great gun, on which the hopes of the 
Americans centred, was an iron thirty-two-pounder, which had lain for 
years deeply embedded in the muddy ooze of the lake-shore, gaining 
thereby the derisive name of the "Old Sow." This redoubtable piece 
of ordnance was flanked on either side by a brass six-pounder ; a pair of 
cannon that the Yankee sailors had, with infinite pains and indomitable 
perseverance, dredged up from the sunken hulk of a British war-vessel 
that had filled a watery grave some years. Two brass nine-pounders com- 
pleted this novel armament. 

It was about eight o'clock in the morning when the British vessels 
came up within range. Alarm guns had been firing from the shore all 
the morning ; and by that time the village was filled with militia-men, 
who flocked to the scene of action. Woolsey, who had taken charge of 
the shorc-battcrics, ordered a shot from the thirty-two pounder. The "old 
sow " spoke out bravely, but the shot missing, only roused the enemy to 
laughter, which could be heard on shore. The British vessels then began 
a vigorous cannonade, keeping well out of range of the small guns on 
shore ; although so weak were the American defences, that a vigorous 
onslaught by the enemy would have quickly reduced the town to submis- 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 35 ^ 

sion. As it was, a hannkss fire was kept up for about two hours. Not 
a shot took effect, and nothing save the noise and excitement of the 
cannonading need have deterred the good people of Sackett's Harbor 
from observing that Sunday morning in accordance with their usual 
sabbath customs. It was reserved for one shot to put an end to this 
strange engagement. Just as the artillerists who served the iron thirty- 
two pounder were loading the gun, a cannon-ball struck the ground near 
the battery. One of the Americans ran, and, picking up the spent ball, 
brought it into the battery, saying, "I've been playing ball with the red- 
coats, and have caught them out. Let's see now if they can catch back 
again." So saying, he rammed the missile down the muzzle of the long 
thirty-two, and sent it back with deadly aim. The captured ball crashed 
into the stern of the " Royal George," raked her from stem to stern, 
killing fourteen men, and wounding eighteen in its course. The marks- 
man, watching the course of his shot, saw the splinters fly from the deck 
of the British ship; and the Americans cheered loudly for the "old sow" 
as the British squadron put about, and left the Sackett's Harbor people 
to celebrate their easily won victory. 

Insignificant though this engagement was, it was the chief battle of 
the year on Lake Ontario. The Americans strained every nerve to put 
more armed vessels afloat, and, being left unmolested by the British, 
managed to have quite a flotilla in commission before winter set its icy 
seal upon the lake. In September, Capt. Isaac Chauncey was appointed 
commander-in-chief of the lake navy; and, on his arrival, he proved him- 
self the very man for the place. He rushed ahead the building of new 
ships, arranged for the transportation of seamen from the seacoast to 
man the vessels on the lakes, and then, not content with attending only 
to the building of the ships, took command of the squadron in commis- 
sion, and fairly swept the lake clear of the enemy's vessels. He met 
with little opposition as the British retired to their naval station at 
Kingston, remaining there until all further naval operations were checked 
by the ice. 

Winter, which seriously impeded the work of the British by putting 
an end to navigation upon the St. Lawrence, did away witJi many of the 
difficulties of transportation which had so hampered the Amcrican.s. 
The roads to the seacoast grew hard, and were soon covered with snow, 



352 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

)vci" wliich long teams of oxen plodded to and fro until the path was 
veil broken. Then began the hauling of supplies from the seaboard. 
From his post at Sackett's Harbor, Chauncey sent out requisitions for 
ihip-timber, cordage, ordnance, and ship-carpenters. Long trains of 
'heavily laden wagons and sledges wound their way across the State from 
New York or Albany to the station at Sackett's Harbor. Agents were 
appointed in the seacoast towns to enlist seamen for service on the 
lakes, — a work that required no small powers of persuasion ; for the true 
salt-water jack looks with great disfavor upon the " fish-ponds " of fresh 
water. But, by dint of munificent offers of bounties and prize-money, 
several hundred sailors were induced to leave their ships on the ocean, 
and take service in the infant navy of the lakes. 

Most of the sailors were sent across the State in the dead of winter. 
The trip was made in huge sleds, drawn by several pairs of horses, and 
tarrying a score or more men each. The jackies enlivened the journey 
vith rollicking songs and stories as the sleds sped over the well-packed 
roads through the sparsely settled country. One of the largest parties 
was accompanied by a brass band, with the aid of which the sailors mad^ 
their entrance to the villages along the road in truly royal style. The 
sleighs and horses were gayly decked with the national colors. The band 
led in the first sleigh, closely followed by three other sledges, filled with 
blue-coated men. Before the little tavern of the town the cortege usually 
came to a halt; and the tars, descending, followed up their regulation 
cheers with demands for grog and provender. After a halt of an hour 
or two, the party continued its way, followed by the admiration of every 
villager, and the envy of every boy large enough to have seafaring 
ambitions. 

With all his energy and unswerving fidelity to the cause of his country, 
Chauncey probably did nothing of more direct benefit to the United 
States than writing a letter to a young naval officer, then stationed at 
Newport, asking him to come West and take charge of the naval opera- 
tions on Lake Erie. The name of this young officer was Oliver Hazard 
Perry, and a year later no name in American history carried with it 
more fame. 

Hostilities on Lake Erie had been unimportant up to the time that 
Chauncey sent for Perry. The Americans had no naval vessel to oppose 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 353 

to the fleet of Canadian craft that held the lake. One war-vessel only 
had shown the American flag on the lake ; and she had been fitted out 
by the army, and had fallen into the hands of the enemy at the sur- 
render of Detroit. But this prize was not destined to remain long in 
the hands of the Canadians. Early in the autumn of 1812, Chauncey 
had sent Lieut. Elliott to Lake Erie, with instructions to begin at once 
the creation of a fleet by building or purchasing vessels. Elliott chose 
as the site of his improvised navy-yard Black Rock, a point two miles 
below Buffalo ; and there pushed ahead his work in a way that soon con- 
vinced the enemy, that, unless the young officer's energy received a check, 
British supremacy on Lake Erie would soon be at an end. Accordingly, 
two armed brigs, the " Caledonia " and the " Detroit," recently captured by 
the British, came down to put an end to the Yankee ship-building. Like 
most of the enemy's vessels on the lakes, these two brigs were manned by 
Canadians, and had not even the advantage of a regular naval commander. 

On the morning of the 8th of October, the sentries on the river-side 
at Black Rock discovered the two British vessels lying at anchor under 
the guns of Fort Erie, a British work on the opposite side of the Niagara 
River, that there flows placidly along, a stream more than a mile wide. 
Zealous for distinction, and determined to checkmate the enemy in their 
design, Elliott resolved to undertake the task of cutting out the two vessels 
from beneath the guns of the British fort. Fortune favored his enter- 
prise. It happened that on that very day a detachment of sailors from 
the ocean had arrived at Black Rock. Though wearied by their long 
overland journey, the jackies were ready for the adventure, but had no 
weapons. In this dilemma Elliott was forced to turn for aid to the 
military authorities, from whom he obtained pistols, swords, and sabres 
enough to fit out his sailors for the fray. With the arms came a number 
of soldiers and a small party of adventurous citizens, all of whom enlisted 
under the leadership of the adventurous Elliott. In planning the expedi- 
tion, the great difficulty lay in getting rid of the too numerous volunteers. 

By nightfall, the preparations for the expedition were completed. In 
the underbrush that hung over the banks of the river, two large boats 
wrere concealed, ready for the embarkation. At midnight fifty men, armed 
to the teeth, silently took their places in each of the great barges, and 
pushed out upon the black surface of the river. All along the bank 



354 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



were crowds of eager watchers, who discussed the chances of success with 
bated breath, lest the merest whisper should alarm the British sentries 
on the farther shore. With steady strokes of the muffled oars, the two 
boats made their way toward the two brigs that could just be seen out- 
lined against the sky. Elliott, in the first boat, directed the movements 
of his men, and restrained the too enthusiastic. So stealthy was the 
approach, that the foremost boat was fairly alongside of the "Detroit" 
before the British took the alarm. Then the quick hail of the sentry 
brought an answering pistol-shot from Elliott ; and, amid volleys of mus- 
ketry, the assailants clambered up the sides of the brigs, and with pistol 
and cutlass drove the startled crew below. So complete was the surprise, 
that the British made but little resistance ; and the cables of the brigs 
were cut, sails spread, and the vessels under way, before the thunder of 
a gun from Fort Erie told that the British on shore had taken the alarm. 

At the report of the first shot fired, the dark line of the American 
shore suddenly blazed bright with huge beacon fires, while lanterns and 
torches were waved from, commanding points to guide the adventurous 
sailors in their navigation of the captured brigs. But the victors were 
not to escape unscathed with their booty. The noise of the conflict, and 
the shouts of the Americans on the distant bank of the river, roused the 
British officers in the fort, and the guns were soon trained on the reced- 
ing vessels. Some field-batteries galloped along the bank, and soon had 
their guns in a position whence they could pour a deadly fire upon the 
Americans. Nor did the spectators on the New York side of the river 
escape unharmed ; for the first shot fired by the field-battery missed the 
brigs, but crossed the river and struck down an American officer. Almost 
unmanageable in the swift current and light wind, the two brigs seemed 
for a time in danger of recapture. The "Caledonia" was run ashore 
under the guns of an American battery ; but the " Detroit," after being 
relieved of the prisoners, and deserted by her captors, was beached at a 
point within range of the enemy's fire. The British made several deter- 
mined attempts to recapture her, but were beaten off ; and, after a day's 
fighting around the vessel, she was set on fire and burned to the water's 
edge. The "Caledonia," however, remained to the Americans, and some 
months later did good service against her former owners. 

It was shortly after this occurrence that Lieut. Perry offered his 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 355 

services for the lakes ; and four months later he received a letter from 
Chauncey, saying, " You are the very person that I want for a particular 
service, in which you may gain reputation for yourself, and honor for 
vour country." This letter was quickly followed by orders from the Sec- 
retary of the Navy to report at once for duty to Chauncey at Sackett's 
Harbor. Perry was overjoyed. The dull monotony of his duties at 
Newport suited little his ardent nature. He longed for active service, 
and an opportunity to win distinction. His opportunity had at last come ; 
and twenty hours after the receipt of his orders, he and his thirteen- 
year-old brother were seated in a sleigh and fairly started on the long 
drive across the country. Travelling was a serious matter in those days, 
and the journey from Newport to Sackett's Harbor required twelve 
days. 

On his arrival. Perry found that the special service for which he was 
needed was the command of a naval force on Lake Erie. He stopped 
but a short time at Sackett's Harbor, and then pressed on to Erie, the 
base of the naval operations on the lake of the same name. It was late 
in March when Perry arrived ; and the signs of spring already showed 
that soon the lake would be clear of ice, and the struggle for its control 
recommence. The young lieutenant was indefatigable in the labor of 
preparation. He urged on the building of vessels already begun. He 
arranged for the purchase of merchant schooners, and their conversion 
into gunboats. He went to Pittsburg for supplies, and made a flying 
trip to Buffalo to join Chauncey in an attack upon Fort George at the 
mouth of the Niagara River. All the time, he managed to keep up a 
constant fire of letters to the Secretary of the Navy and to Chauncey, 
begging for more sailors. By summertime, he had five vessels ready for 
service, but no men to man them. The enemy blockaded him, and he 
dared not accept the challenge. In July he wrote to Chauncey: "The 
enemy's fleet of si.x sail are now off the bar of this harbor. What a 
golden opportunity if we had men ! . . . Give me men, sir, and I will 
acquire both for you and myself honor and glory on this lake, or perish 
in the attempt." Again he wrote: "For God's sake, and yours and mine, 
send me men and officers ; and I will have them all [the British squad- 
ron] in a day or two." When the men finally did arrive, he was much 
disgusted with their appearance, pronouncing them to be "a motley set, 



!56 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



— blacks, soldiers, and boys." Nevertheless, this same motley crew, 
headed by the critical young officer, won a victory that effectually 
crushed the pretensions of the enemy to the control of Lake Erie. 

His crews having arrived, Perry was anxious to get out upon the 
lake, and engage the enemy at once. But this course of action was for 
a long time impossible. The flotilla lay snugly anchored within the 




PERRVS RECRUITS. 

harbor of Erie, the entrance to which was closed by a bar. To cross this 
bar, the ships would have been obliged to send all heavy ordnance 
ashore; and, as the enemy kept close watch outside the harbor, the 
American fleet was practically blockaded. For several weeks the Ameri- 
cans were thus kept prisoners, grumbling mightily at their enforced 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 357 

inaction, and longing for a chance to get at tlie enemy. One morning 
in August word was brought to Perry that the blockading fleet had dis- 
appeared. Instantly all was life and bustle in the harbor. The crews 
of all the vessels were ordered aboard ; and the flotilla dropped down to 
the bar, intending to cross early in the morning. At dawn the move- 
ment was begun. The schooners and other small craft were easily 
taken outside ; but, when it came to the turn of the two gun-brigs, 
" Lawrence " and " Niagara," it became evident that mechanical assist- 
ance was required. Accordingly, a powerful " camel " was hastily impro- 
vised, by the aid of which the two vessels were dragged across the bar. 
Hardly had the second brig made the passage in safety, when the British 
fleet appeared in the offing. Tradition says that the opportune absence 
of the enemy's fleet was caused by a public banquet to which the citi- 
zens of Port Dover had invited Commodore Barclay and his officers. 
While the dinner was going merrily on, the Americans were hard at 
work, escaping from the trap in which the British had left them. In 
responding to a toast at the banquet, Barclay said, " I e.xpect to find the 
Yankee brigs hard and fast on the bar at Erie when I return, in which 
predicament it will be but a small job to destroy them." His anticipa- 
tions were not realized ; for, on his arrival, he found the entire squadron 
safely floating in the deep water outside the bar. 

Had Barclay but known it, he would even then have found it "but a 
small job to destroy them ; " for the two brigs, having been stripped of 
their ordnance, would have been easy prey for the British squadron. But 
Perry's bold action in sending forward two schooners to engage the enemy 
seemed to alarm the too prudent commodore; and the British bore away, 
and were soon out of sight. 

By night Perry's flotilla was in readiness for cruising, and set out 
immediately in pursuit of the foe. Barclay seemed to avoid the conflict; 
and, after some weeks' cruising, the Americans cast anchor at Put-in-Bay, 
and awaited there the appearance of the enemy. 

The little flotilla that lay anchored on the placid waters of the pictur- 
esque bay consisted of nine vessels, ranging in size from the "Trippe," a 
puny sloop carrying one gun, to the "Lawrence" and "Niagara," brigs 
carrying each two long twelves and eighteen short thirty-twos. No very 
formidable armada was that of a handful of pygmy vessels, commanded by 



358 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



a young officer who had never heard the thunderous cannonade of a naval 

battle, or seen the decks of his ships stained with the blood of friends and 

daily companions. Yet the work of the little squadron saved the United 

. States from invasion, won for the young commander a never-dying 

I fame, and clothed the vine-clad hills, the pebbly beaches, and the 




DRILLING THE RAW RECRUITS. 



crystal waters of Put-in-Bay with a wealth of proud, historical associations. 
Day after day the vessels lay idly at their anchorage, and the sailors 
grew restless at the long inactivity. Perry alone was patient ; for to him 
had come the knowledge that the hostile fleet was getting short of sup- 
plies, and would soon be starved out of its retreat at Maiden. Knowing 
this, he spared no pains to get his men into training for the coming con- 
flict. They were exercised daily at the great guns, and put through severe 
drills in the use of the cutlass, in boarding, and repelling boarders. By 
constant drill and severe discipline, Perry had made of the motley crew 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 359 

sent him a well-drilled body of seamen, every man of whom had become 
fired with the enthusiasm of his commander. 

As the time passed, and the day of battle drew nearer. Perry's confi- 
dence in his men increased ; and he looked upon the coming conflict as 
one certain to bring glory to his country. At early dawn the jackies on 
the ships could see the slender form of their commander perched upon 
the craggy heights of one of the islands, called to this day " Perry's 
Lookout," eagerly scanning the horizon in the direction of Maiden. On 
the night of Sept. 9, 18 13, the commodore felt convinced that on the 
ne.xt day the British would come out to battle. Accordingly, a confer- 
ence of captains was called in the cabin of the flag-ship, and each received 
directions as to his course of action during the fight. They were urged 
to force the fighting to close quarters. Said Perry, " Nelson has expressed 
my idea in the words, ' If you lay your enemy alongside, you cannot be 
out of your place.' " As the officers were about to depart, Perry drew 
from a locker a large, square blue flag, on which appeared, in white letters, 
the dying words of the gallant Lawrence, "Don't give up the ship!" 
" This," said Perry, " shall be the signal for action ; and when it appears 
at the masthead, remember your instructions." The conference then ended; 
and the captains returned to their ships across the bay, silvered by the 
light of the moon, to spend the greater part of the night in preparations 
for the great danger of the coming day. 

Morning dawned bright and clear, with a light breeze blowing, that 
broke into ripples the surface of the land-locked bay. The rosy light of 
the rising sun was just reddening the eastern horizon, when, from the 
lookout in the foretop of the " Lawrence," came the long-drawn hail of 
"Sail, ho!" quickly repeated from the other vessels. 

Perry was already on deck. " What docs it look like .' " he shouted 
to the lookout. 

"A clump of square rigged, and fore and afters, sir," was the response. 

In a few minutes the signals "Enemy in sight," and "Get under way," 
were flying from the masthead of the flag-ship ; and the merry piping 
of the boatswains' whistles, and the measured tramp of the sailors around 
the capstans, told that signals were observed, and were being obeyed. 

The fleet was soon threading its way through the narrow channels, 
filled with islands, at the entrance to the bay, and finally came into line 



3^ BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 

on the open lake. Not a cloud was in the sky. The lake was calm, 
with enough wind blowing to admit of manoeuvring, yet gentle enough 
to be of advantage to the ichooners that made up the greater part of 
each fleet. 

For some time the Americans held back, manecuvring to get the 
weather-gauge ; but Perry's impatience for the fray got the better of his 
caution, and he determined to close at once. His first officer remon- 
strated, saying, "Then you'll have to engage the enemy to leeward." 

" I don't care," responded the commodore. " Leeward or windward, 
they shall fight to-day." Then, turning to the quartermaster, he called 
for the battle-flag, which being brought, he mustered the crew aft, and 
addressed them briefly, telling them of the task before them, and urging 
them to fight bravely for the victory. " My brave lads," he concluded, "this 
flag bears 4he last words of Capt. Lawrence. Shall I hoist it? " 

"Ay, ay, sir! " cried the jackies, in unison; and, as the flag was swiftly 
run to the masthead, the cheers of the sailors on the deck of the " Lawrence " 
were echoed from the neighboring vessels, as the white letters showed boldly 
against the blue flag, bearing to each commander the exhortation, " Don't 
give up the ship! " 

The battle-signal being thus displayed, the vessels moved onward to 
the attack. As the crew of the " Lawrence " stood at their guns, the 
cooks passed along the decks, handing to each man a bit of food, that 
his strength might not leave him in the coming struggle. Then followed 
boys with boxes of sand, which they strewed upon the decks, to afford a firm 
foothold for the men at tlie guns. The hammocks were stowed along the 
nettings, to serve as some little protection against flying shot. The men 
stood silent and pale at their quarters, each occupied with his own grave 
thoughts, but all determined to fight like brave men and true for the honor 
of the flag. By Perry's side stood his brother, a boy thirteen j-ears old, 
armed and ready to do his duty as well as the older men. 

The British came on gallantly. Barclay had lost all his diffidence, 
and brought up his vessels like a veteran. His ships were kept close 
together ; the ship " Detroit " under short sail, that the pygmy sloop 
" Little Belt " might not be left in the rear. The Americans came down 
in single file, headed by the schooner "Scorpion." Suddenly through 
the still air rang out the sharp notes of a bugle-call on the enemy's 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 3^1 

flag-ship. It was the signal for action ; and, as the last notes died away, 
the bands struck up " Rule, Britannia." The Americans answered with 
cheers; and in the midst of the cheering, a jet of smoke and fire spurted 
from the side of the " Detroit," and a heavy shot splashed into the water 
near the " Lawrence," while a dull, heavy report came booming over the 
water. 

The battle was opened, but five minutes elapsed before a second shot 
was fired. When it did come, it crashed through the bulwarks of the 
" Lawrence," and sped across her deck doing no great damage. " Steady, 
lads, steady," cried Perry, from his post on the quarter-deck, as he saw 
an uneasy stir among his men, who longed to return the fire. The com- 
modore was determined to fight at close quarters, and hung out signals 
for each ship to choose its antagonist, and fight the fight out for itself. 

It was then high noon, and the battle soon became general. The little 
schooners " Scorpion " and " Ariel " pluckily kept their place in the van 
of the American line, but the fire of the enemy fell most fiercely upon 
the flag-ship " Lawrence." No less than four vessels at one time were 
grouped about the " Lawrence," pouring in a destructive fire, and bent 
upon destoying the flag-ship and her brave commander ; then taking the 
smaller vessels in detail. The " Lawrence " fought bravely, but the odds 
were too great. The carronades with which she was armed were no 
match for the long guns of her adversaries. For two hours the unequal 
combat raged, and no American vessel came to the aid of the sorely 
smitten flag-ship. Amid the hail of cannon-balls and bullets, Ferry 
seemed to bear a charmed life. He saw his officers and men falling all 
about him. John Brooks, the lieutenant of marines, fought by the commo- 
dore's side. While speaking cheerfully to the commodore, a cannon-ball 
struck the young lieutenant on the hip, dashing him across the deck against 
the bulwark, and mutilating him so, that he plead piteously with Perry, im 
ploring that he might be put out of his misery with a pistol-shot. From 
this awful spectacle Perry turned to speak to the ca[)tain of a gun, when the 
conversation was abruptly cut short by a shot which killed the seaman in- 
stantly. Ferry returned to the quarter-deck. The first lieutenant came 
rushing up, his face bloody, and his nose swelled to an enormous size from a 
splinter which had perforated it. "All the officers in my division are killed," 
he cried. "For God's sake, give me more!" Perry sent some men to his 



362 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 18 12. 



aid ; but they soon fell, and the cry for more men arose again. One of the 
surgeons who served in the cockpit on that dreadful day states, that, in the 

midst of the roar of battle, 
Perry's voice was heard call- 
ing down the hatchway, and 
asking any surgeon's mates 
who could be spared, to 
come on deck and help work 
the guns. Several went up ; 
but the appeal was soon re- 
peated, and more responded. 
When no more men could 
be obtained, the voice of the 
commodore took a pleading 
tone. " Can any of the 
wounded pull a rope.'" said 
he ; and such was his as- 
cendency over the men, that 
several poor mangled fel- 
lows dragged themselves on 
deck, and lent their feeble 
strength to the working of 
the guns. 

Amid all the carnage, the 
sailors were quick to notice 
the lighter incidents of the 
fray. Even the cock-pit, 
filled with the wounded, and 
reeking with blood that 
dripped through the cracks 
in the deck above, once resounded with laughter as hearty as ever greeted a 
middy's after-dinner joke in the steerage. Lieut. Yarnall received a bad 
scalp-wound, which fairly drenched his face with blood. As he groped his 
way towards the cock-pit, he passed a lot of hammocks stuffed with " cat- 
tails" which had been stowed on the bulwarks. The feather>' down of 
the "cat-tails" filled the air, and settled thick upon the head and face 




CO.M.MODORE I'EKKV AT THE B.^TTLE OF LAKE ERIE. 




COMMODORE M.ACDONOL'GW 




COMMODORE DECATUR 




COMMODORE PERRY 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 363 

of the officer, robbing his countenance of all semblance to a human face. 
As he descended the ladder to the cock-pit, his owl-like air roused the 
wounded to great shouts of laughter. " The Devil has come among us," 
they cried. 

While talking to his little brother, Perry to his horror saw the lad 
fall at his feet, dashed to the deck by an unseen missile. The com- 
modore's agony may be imagined ; but it was soon assuaged, for the boy 
was only stunned, and was soon fighting again at his post. The second 
lieutenant was struck by a spent grape-shot, and fell stunned upon the 
deck. He lay there for a time, unnoticed. Perry raised him up, telling 
him he was not hurt, as no blood could be seen. The lieutenant put his 
hand to his clothing, at the point where the blow had fallen, and dis- 
covered the shot lodged in his coat. Coolly putting it in his pocket, he 
remarked, "You are right: I am not hurt. But this is my shot," and 
forthwith returned to his duty. 

It was a strange-looking body of men that fought at the guns of the 
" Lawrence." Lean, angular Yankee sailors from the seafaring commu- 
nities of New England stood by the side of swarthy negroes, who, with 
their half-naked black bodies, in the dense powder-smoke, seemed like 
fiends in pandemonium. In the rigging were stationed a number of Ken- 
tucky riflemen, who had volunteered to serve during the battle. The 
buckskin shirts and leggings gave an air of incongruity to their presence 
on a man-of-war. Their unerring rifles, however, did brave service for 
the cause of the stars and stripes. At the opening of the action, two 
tall Indians, decked in all the savage finery of war-paint and feathers, 
strode the deck proudly. But water is not the Indian's element, and the 
battle had hardly begun when one fled below in terror ; the other remained 
on deck, and was killed early in the action. 

Courageous and self-confident though the American commander was, 

the moment came when he could no longer disguise the fact that his 

gallant flag-ship was doomed to destruction before the continuous and 

deadly fire of her adversaries. There was but one course of action open, 

and upon this he determined at once. He would transfer his flag to the 

" Niagara," and from the deck of that vessel direct the movements of 

his fleet. Accordingly, the only uninjured boat of the "Lawrence" was 
13 



564 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 



lowered ; and Perry sprang into the stern, followed by his little brother. 
Before the boat pushed off, the battle-flag was thrown into her ; and, 
wrapping it about him, Perry took a standing position in the stern, and 
ordered the oarsmen to give way. He steered straight for the " Niagara," 
through the very centre of the fight. The enemy quicky grasped the 




MAKING READY TO LEAVE THE "LAWRENCE." 



purpose of the movement, and great guns and muskets were trained on 
the little boat. Shot of all sizes splashed in the water about the boat, 
splintered the oars, and buried themselves in the gunwale. The crew 
begged their commander to sit down, and make himself a less conspicu- 
ous target for the fire of the enemy; but Perry paid but little attention 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. . 365 



to their entreaties. Suddenly the men rested on the oars, and the boat 
stopped. Angrily the commodore demanded the cause of the stoppage, 
and was told that the men refused to row unless he sat down. With a 
smile he yielded, and soon the boat was alongside the "Niagara." Perry 
sprang to the deck, followed by his boat's crew and a plucky sailor who 
had swum just behind the boat across the long stretch of water. Hardly 
a glance did the commodore cast at the ship which he had left, but bent 
all his faculties to taking the new flag-ship into the battle. 

The " Niagara " was practically a fresh ship ; for, up to this time, she 
had held strangely aloof from the battle. Now all was to be changed. 
The battle-flag went to her masthead ; and she plunged into the thick of 
the fight, striking thunderous blows at every ship she encountered. As 
she passed the American lines, the sailors greeted with cheers their 
gallant commander. The crippled " Lawrence," an almost helpless hulk, 
left far behind, was forced to strike her flag ; although her crew protested 
loudly, crying out, "Sink the ship, and let us go down with her." But 
the conquered vessel was not destined to fall into the hands of her 
enemies. Already the sight of their commodore on a fresh vessel stimu- 
lated the American tars ; so that in half an hour the British line was 
broken, their ships cut to pieces, and the "Detroit," their flag-ship, a prize 
to the "Niagara." A white handkerchief was waved at the end of a pike 
by one of the crew of the " Princess Charlotte." The firing stopped, the 
flag was again run up to the masthead of the " Lawrence," while a few 
feeble cheers came faintly over the water from the remnant of her crew. 

The dense clouds of smoke blowing away. Perry saw, by the disposi- 
tion of his squadron, that the victory was secure. Hastily catching off 
his navy-cap, he laid upon it a sheet of paper torn from an old letter, 
and wrote to Gen. Harrison the famous despatch, " We have met the enemy, 
and they are ours, — tivo ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop." 

Then, with true chivalry, he determined that to his flag-ship "Law- 
rence," that had so stoutly borne the brunt of battle, should belong the 
honor of receiving the British captains, when they came to surrender 
their vessels. He returned to the "Lawrence;" but the scene there 
was such that even the excitement of victory could raise no feelings of 
exultation in his breast. He saw on every side the bodies of officers 
with whom, but the night before, he had dined in perfect health. The 



3*56 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

decks were red with blood, and from the cock-pit arose the groans of the 
wounded. 

After the formal surrender, to make which the ofScers picked their 
way over the deck covered with slain to the quarter-deck, the work of 
burying the dead of both squadrons was begun. It was about sundown 
that the sad ceremonies were held ; and, as the deep tones of the chap- 
lains reading the burial-service arose upon the evening air, the dull, 
mournful splashing of heavy bodies in the water told that the last scene 
in the great victory was drawing to an end. 




?^^r%v; U^ 



^<.>'; 





CHAPTER VIII. 



ON THE OCEAN. — THE "HORNET" SINKS THE " PEACOCK." — THE BLOCKADE. — ADVEN- 
TURES OF THE "SALLY." — HOSTILITIES ON CHESAPEAKE BAV. — THE CRUISE OF THE 
" PRESIDENT." 






r 



HE year 1813, that brought to American sailors upon the lakes 
such well-earned laurels, opened auspiciously for the stars and 
Stripes upon the ocean. It will be remembered that the "Con- 
stitution," while on the cruise in the South Atlantic that ended 
with the destruction of the "Java," had left the " Hornet " off San Salvador, 
blockading the British ship "Bonne Citoyenne." For eighteen days the 
" Hornet " remained at her post. Her captain continually urged the enemy 
to come out and give him battle, but to no avail. The remembrance of 
his valuable cargo deterred the Englishman, and he remained snug in 
his harbor. Months after, when the occurrence became known in the 
United States, an unreasoning outcry was raised against the commander 
of the " Bonne Citoyenne " for thus avoiding the conflict ; but naval men 
have always agreed that his action was wise and commendable. 

After eighteen days' service on this blockade, the " Hornet " saw a 
British seventy-four bearing down upon her, bent upon releasing the 
treasure-ship. Against such odds it would have been folly to contend ; 



368 BLUE-JACKETS OF 181 2. 

and the Americans, taking advantage of a dark night, slipped away, and 
were soon beyond pursuit. The vessel continued her cruise in the waters 
south of the equator, meeting with good fortune, and taking many valuable 
prizes, from one of which twenty-three thousand dollars in specie were 
taken. But her cruise was not destined to proceed without serious 
opposition. 

On the 24th of February, as the " Hornet " was giving close chase to 
a suspicious brig near the mouth of the Demarara River, a second stranger 
was sighted in the offing. Giving no heed to the newly sighted vessel, 
the " Hornet " continued her chase until the rapidly approaching vessel 
was clearly made out to be a brig, flying the British flag, and evidently 
a manof-war. The " Hornet " was immediately cleared for action ; and 
the two hostile vessels began manoeuvring for the weather-gage, as two 
scientific pugilists spar cautiously for an opening. In this contest of sea- 
manship, Capt. Lawrence of the " Hornet " proved the victor ; and a little 
after five o'clock in the afternoon, the two enemies stood for each other 
upon the wind, the " Hornet " having the weather-gage. As they rapidly 
neared each other, no sound was heard save the creaking of the cordage; 
and the dashing of the waves against the vessels' hulls. Not a shot was 
fired until the enemies were dashing past each other, going in opposite 
directions. The first broadsides were exchanged at half pistol-shot, with 
very unequal effects. The shot of the " Hornet " penetrated the hull of 
her antagonist, doing terrible execution ; while the broadside let fly by 
the "Peacock" whistled through the rigging of the American ship, cut- 
ting away the pennant, and killing a topman, who was struck by a round 
shot, and dashed from his station in the mizzen-top, to fall mangled and 
lifeless into the sea. 

Hardly were the ships clear, when the British captain put his helm 
hard up, — a manoeuvre executed with the intention of securing a raking 
position. But the plan was balked by the cool seamanship of Capt. 
Lawrence, who quickly followed up the British vessel, and, getting a posi- 
tion on his quarter, poured in so rapid and accurate a fire that the enemy 
was fain to haul down his colors and confess defeat. The British ensign 
had hardly touched the deck, when it was run up again, with the union 
down, as a token of distress. At this sight, the Yankee tars, who had 
been cheering lustily over their quickly won victory, stopped their rejoi 



BLUE-JACKETS OF icSi2. 369 

cings, and set about giving assistance to the injured Britons with as hearty 
good-will as they had lately shown in their vigorous cannonade. 

With all possible despatch, a boat was lowered, and Lieut. Shubrick 
proceeded on board the prize. He found the "Peacock" a complete 
wreck. Shortly after the surrender her main-mast had gone by the board, 
and her hull was fairly honeycombed with shot-holes. Returning to his 
ship, Shubrick reported the condition of the prize. He was immediately 
ordered to return to the " Peacock," and make every effort to save her. 
Accompanied by three boats' crews of American sailors, he again boarded 
the sinking ship, and bent every energy to the attempt for her salvation. 
Bulwarks were cut away, and the heavy guns were rolled out of the gaps 
thus made, and cast into the sea. Deep down in the hold, and swinging 
like spiders over the sides of the vessels, sailors tried to stop up with 
felt-covered blocks of wood the great holes through which the water was 
pouring. All the time boats were plying between the sinking vessel and 
the " Hornet," transferring the wounded and the prisoners. 1 wilight fell 
before the work was ended, and it became evident to all that the " Pea- 
cock " must sink during the night. But the end came even quicker than 
had been expected. Some new rent must have opened in the brig's side ; 
for, with a sudden lurch, she commenced to sink rapidly, bow foremost. 
Several of the English crew were below, searching for liquor ; and, caught 
by the inpouring flood, they found a watery grave in the sinking hulk. 
Three Americans were also ingulfed ; and five narrowly escaped death by 
climbing up the rigging to the foretop, which remained above water when 
the hull rested upon the bottom. In the midst of the excitement and 
confusion, four British seamen slyly clambered out of the cabin-windows, 
and, dropping into a boat that was made fast to the stern, made off in 
che darkness. The Americans, eagerly watching the sinking ship, did 
not detect the fugitives until the boat was far beyond the possibility of 
recapture. 

The vessel so quickly destroyed by the " Hornet " was the British 
man-of-war brig " Peacock," mounting ten guns, and carrying a crew of 
two hundred and ten men. In one respect, she was a model ship. 
Among naval men, she had long been known as "the yacht," on account 
of the appearance of exquisite neatness she always presented. Her decks 
were as white as lime-juice and constant holystoning could keep them. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



The brass-work about the cabins and the breeches of the guns was 
dazzling in its brilliancy. White canvas lined the breechings of the 
carronades. Her decks everywhere showed signs of constant toil in 
the cause of cleanliness. The result of the battle, however, seemed to 
indicate that Capt. Peakes had erred, in that, while his ship was perfect, 
his men were bad marksmen, and poorly disciplined. While their shot 
were harmlessly passing through the rigging of the " Hornet," the 
Americans were pouring in well-directed broadsides, that killed and 
wounded thirty-eight men, and ended the action in fifteen minutes. The 
Americans lost but one man in the fight, though three more went down 
in the sinking prize. 

Capt. Lawrence now found himself far from home, short of water, and 
crowded with prisoners. For a time, he feared that to these evils was 
to be added a second action, while his crew was still fatigued with the 
labors of the first. During the battle with the "Peacock," a second 
British man-of-war brig, the " Espieglc," lay quietly at anchor only four 
miles away. W'hy she had not joined in the strife, has never been 
explained. She was clearly visible from the tops of the " Hornet " 
throughout the action, and Lawrence expected every moment to see her 
bear down to the assistance of her consort. But she made no move- 
ment ; and even after the fight ended, and the " Peacock " lay on the 
bottom of the ocean, the mysterious stranger awoke not from her leth- 
argy. Not wishing to engage a second adversary while his ship was 
crowded with prisoners, Lawrence immediately left the scene of action, 
and laid his course for home. The homeward voyage was rapid and 
uneventful. No pains were spared to secure the comfort of the prisoners 
who crowded the ship. The British officers were treated with the great- 
est consideration ; so that, as one said on quitting the ship, they " ceased 
to consider themselves as captives." The tars, who were consigned to 
the care of the blue-jackets in the forecastle, were met with less cour- 
tesy, but certainly with no less good feeling. They were not spared an 
occasional taunt or triumphant joke; but when it was learned that by 
the sinking of their ship the Britons had lost all their " toggery," the 
"Hornet's" lads turned to, and soon collected clothing enough to fit out 
each prisoner with a respectable kit. 

It was the middle of March before the long, homeward voyage was 



BLUE-JACKlilS OP^ iSi2. 27^ 



ended, and the anchor was dropped in the snug harbor of Holmes's 
Hole in the island of Martha's Vineyard. The usual rejoicings followed 
the news of the victory. Lawrence was the hero of the hour ; and songs 
innumerable appeared in the newspapers, extolling the courage and devo- 
tion of the brave lads of the " Hornet." 

Indeed, the arrival of the " Hornet " with her glorious news came at 
an opportune moment, to cheer the spirits of the American people. The 
war had begun to assume a serious aspect. Continued reverses on 
the ocean had roused the British ministry to the fact that they were 
dealing with no contemptible enemy, and the word had gone forth that 
the Americans must be crushed into submission. Troops were hurriedly 
sent to Canada, and all the vessels that could be spared were ordered to 
the coast of the United States. The English had determined upon that 
most effective of all hostile measures, — a rigorous blockade of their 
enemy's coast. Up and down the coast from New Jersey to the Caro- 
linas, British frigates and sloops kept up a constant patrol. Chesapeake 
Bay was their chief rendezvous ; and the exploits of the blockading squad- 
ron stationed there, under Admiral Cockburn, led often to scenes more 
befitting savage warfare then the hostilities of two enlightened and 
civilized peoples. On the New England coast, the blockade was less 
severely enforced. The people of that section had been loud in their 
denunciations of the war; and the British hoped, by a display of modera- 
tion, to seduce the New Englanders from their allegiance to the United 
States, — a hope that failed utterly of fulfilment. Even had the British 
desired to enforce the blockade along the New England shore, the char- 
acter of the coast, and the skill and shrewdness of the Yankee skippers, 
would have made the task of the blockaders a most difficult one. 

The annals of the little seafaring villages along the coast of Maine and 
Massachusetts abound in anecdotes of hardy skippers who outwitted the 
watchful British, and ran their little schooners or sloops into port under 
the very guns of a blockading man-of-war. 

Among the blockade-runners of the New England coast, Capt. Dan 
Fernald of Portsmouth stood foremost. When a shipload of Maine timber 
was needed at the Portsmouth navy-yard, to be converted into a new 
man-of-war, to Capt. Fernald was assigned the task of bringing it down 
from Portland past the British frigates, that were ever on the watch for 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



just such cargoes. When the preparations for the building of the seventy- 
four-gun ship " Washington " were making at the navy-yard, Capt. Fernald 
was sent to Portsmouth for a load of ship's-timber. His cargo was to 
consist of forty-eight " knees " and the breast-hook of the seventy-four. 
Loaded down with this burden, the schooner "Sally" left Portland, and 
headed for her destination. Caution led her captain to keep his craft 
close to the shore, and for a day or two she crept along the coast with- 
out being discovered. But head-winds and calms delayed the " Sally," 
and on her fourth day out she was sighted by the British frigate " Tene- 
dos." The "Sally" v%ras not an imposing craft, and under ordinary cir- 
cumstances she might have been allowed to proceed unmolested ; but on 
this occasion a number of the oaken knees for the new war-vessel were 
piled on the deck, and the British captain could clearly make out, through 
his glasses, that the " Sally " was laden with contraband of war. Accord- 
ingly, he set out in hot pursuit, in the full expectation of overhauling the 
audacious coaster. Capt. Fernald, however, had no idea of letting his 
schooner fall into the hands of the British. He was a wily old skipper, 
and knew every nook and corner of the Maine and New Hampshire coasts 
better than he knew the streets of his native village. Apparently unmoved 
by the pursuit of the man-of-war, he stood at the tiller, and, beyond order- 
ing his crew to shake out the reefs in the sails, seemed to make no great 
attempt to elude the enemy. But soon the crew noticed that the skipper 
was taking his schooner rather dangerously close to the shore; and a cry 
came from a sailor on the bow, that the "Sally" was ploughing through 
the kelp, and would soon be on the rocks. 

"No matter," sung out the captain; "just heave over a few of them 
knees, and I guess she'll float clear." 

Overboard went a dozen heavy timbers, and the " Sally " sailed smoothly 
on over the rocks. Then the captain glanced back over his shoulder, 
and chuckled slyly as the majestic frigate, following closely in his track, 
brought up all of a sudden on the rocks, and was quickly left a fi.xture 
by the receding tide. The exasperated Englishman sent two eighteen- 
pound shot skipping over the water after the " Sally," but without effect. 
One shot buried itself in the sand of the beach ; and Capt. Fernald, after 
picking up the knees that had been thrown overboard, coolly went ashore, 
dug up the ball, and carried it away as a trophy. He reached his moor 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 2)72, 



ings at the navy-yard safely, and was warmly greeted by Commodore 
Hull, who asked if the "Sally" had been fired upon, and, on being 
presented with the eighteen-pound shot for a token, exclaimed, " You are 
a good fellow, and stand fire well." 

The ' Tenedos " came not so luckily out of the adventure. By the 
time a flood tide lifted her clear of the reef, the jagged points of the 
rocks had pierced her hull, so that she leaked badly, and was forced to 
go to Halifax for repairs. 

One more adventure in which the " Sally " and her wily captain 
figured is worth recounting. Again the dingy schooner was edging her 
way along the rugged shore, bound for the Portsmouth navy-yard. No 
vessel could have seemed more harmless. Her patched and dirty canvas 
was held in place by oft-spliced ropes and rigging none too taut. Her 
bluff bows butted away the waves in clouds of spray, that dashed over the 
decks, which seldom received other washing. Her cargo seemed to be 
cordwood, neatly split, and piled high on deck. While off Casco, the 
wind dropped down, and the " Sally " was left floating idly upon the glassy 
ocean. Far in the distance lay an English man-o'-war, also becalmed ; 
but from which a long-boat, stoutly manned, soon put out, and made for 
the becalmed schooner. The boat was soon within hail, and a trim young 
officer in the stern-sheets sung out, — 

"What craft's that.'" 

" Schooner ' Sally ' of Portsmouth," came the answer, in the drawling 
tones of a down-east skipper. 

" Where from ? " 

" Portland." 

"Where bound?" 

"Portsmouth."' 

" What's your cargo." 

" Firewood," responded Capt. Fernald with a carelessness he was 
far from feeling ; for deep down in the hold, under the cord-wood, were 
two twcnty-four-pounder cannon, thirteen thousand pounds of powder, 
and about one hundred boarding pikes and cutlasses. 

The British officer hesitated a moment, as if the little coaster was of 
too little importance for further exammation. 

"Well, I think I'll come aboard," said he carelessly, and soon stood 
with three or four of his men on the deck of the "Sally." 



374 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

After glancing contemptuously about the ill-kept decks, he turned ta 
his men with the sharp order: "Clear away some of that wood from 
the hatchways, and see what's in the hold." 

The men set to work, passing the cord-wood away from the hatch 
'/ays, and piling it upon the after-deck. Soon they had worked their 
way into the hold, and were going deeper and deeper down toward the 
munitions of war. Capt. Fernald's blood seemed to stop coursing in his 
veins. He knew that but one layer of cord-wood then lay above the 
cannon, and he expected every instant to see the black iron uncovered. 
But the British officer grew impatient. 

"That's enough of that work," said he; "there's nothing but wood 
there. Captain, you can proceed on your course." 

A momentary murmur arose from the English sailors. The " Sally " 
was theirs by right of capture, and they saw no reason for her libera- 
tion. "Why, lads," said the officer, "it would cost just as much to 
get this poor fellow's wood-schooner condemned as it would a large 
ship. As for the prize-money, it would not make a penny apiece." SO; 
tumbling into their boat, the jackies pulled away ; shouting to the captain 
of the " Sally " to stow his cargo again, or his old tub would capsize. 
Capt. Fernald took their jeers good-naturedly, for he was the victor in 
that encounter. 

The occurrence had been observed from the shore ; and, when the 
British sailors were seen swarming over the side of the " Sally," a horse- 
man set off for Portsmouth to notify Commodore Hull that the schooner 
was captured. It was a sore blow ; for the guns and powder were 
thought to be lost, and munitions of war were hard to be had at that 
time. But Hull soon threw aside the disappointment, and was busily 
engaged with plans for the vessels then building, when a sentry came in, 
and reported the "Sally" in sight. Hull rushed to the water-side. Sure 
enough, there came the battered old schooner, butting her way through 
the waves of the channel ; and, before long, the two cannon were safe 
in the storehouses, while Capt. Fernald found himself vested with a 
reputation for almost superhuman sagacity and luck. 

Not all the encounters between the blockaders and the blockade- 
runners terminated so happily for the Americans. Many a coasting- 
vessel was sent to Halifax to swell the coffers of the British prize-courts, 



I3LUE-JACKETS OF i8i2. 375 

or, after being set on fire, was left to lie charred and ruined upon the 
rocky shore, as a warning to all who violated the blockade. 

The capture of one United States war-vessel graced the English 
naval annals of January, 1813; for the little brig "Viper," carrying 
twelve guns, fell in the way of the British, thirty-two, " Narcissus," and 
straightway surrendered to the overwhelming force of her enemy. 

Among the United States war-vessels caught and held in port by the 
blockade was the frigate "Constellation." She was at the opening of 
the war the favorite ship of the American navy ; her exploits in the war 
with France having endeared her to the American people, and won for 
her among Frenchmen the name of " the Yankee race-horse." Notwith- 
standing her reputation for speed, she is said to have been very crank, 
and had an awkward way of getting on her beam-ends without much 
provocation. An almost incredible tale is told of her getting "knocked 
down " by a squall while chasing a French privateer, and, notwithstand- 
ing the delay, finally overhauling and capturing the chase. 

When war was declared with England, the " Constellation " was so 
thoroughly dismantled, that some months were occupied in refitting before 
she was ready to put to sea. In January, 1813, she dropped anchor in 
Hampton Roads, expecting to set out on an extended cruise the next 
morning. Had she been a day earlier, her career in the War of 18 12 
might have added new lustre to her glorious record in the war with 
!•" ranee ; but the lack of that day condemned her to inglorious inactivity 
throughout the war : for on that very night a British squadron of line- 
of-battle ships and frigates dropped anchor a few miles down the bay, 
and the " Constellation " was fairly trapped. 

When, by the gray light of early morning, the lookout on the "Con- 
stellation " saw the British fleet lying quietly at their anchorage down 
the bay, he reported to Capt. Stewart ; and the latter saw that, for a 
time, he must be content to remain in port. Stewart's reputation for 
bravery and devotion to his country leaves no doubt that the prospect 
of prolonged idleness was most distasteful to him. But he had little time 
to mourn over his disappointment. The position of the frigate was one 
of great danger. At any moment she might be exposed to attack by the 
hostile fleet. Accordingly, she dropped down abreast of Craney Island, 
where she was secure from attack by the British vessels, but still open 

to the assaults of their boats. 
16 



376 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

To meet this danger, Capt. Stewart took the most elaborate precau- 
tions. His ship was anchored in the middle of the narrow channel; and 
on either side were anchored seven gunboats, officered and manned by 
the men of the frigate. Around the gunboats and frigate extended a 
vast circle of floating logs, linked together by heavy chains, that no 
boarders might come alongside the vessels. The great frigate towered 
high above the surrounding gunboats, her black sides unbroken by an 
open port ; for the gun-deck ports were lashed down, and the guns housed. 
Not a rope's end was permitted to hang over the side ; the stern ladders 
were removed, and the gangway cleats knocked off. An enemy might as 
well hope to scale the unbroken front of a massive wall of masonry, 
as that dark, forbidding hull. From the bulwarks rose on all sides, to 
the ends of the yards, a huge net made of ratlin stuff, boiled in pitch 
until it would turn the edge of a cutlass, and further strengthened by 
nail-rods and small chains. The upper part of the netting was weighted 
with kentledge, the pigs of iron used for ballast ; so that, should the hardy 
assailants succeed in coming alongside and scaling the side, a few blows 
of an a.\e would let fall the heavily weighted nettings, sweeping the 
boarders into the sea, and covering boats and men with an impenetrable 
mesh, under which they would be at the mercy of the sailors on the 
frigate's decks. The carronadcs and howitzers were loaded with grape ; 
and the officers and men felt that only bravery on their part was essential 
to the defeat of any force that Great Britain could send against the ship. 

Heedless of these formidable preparations for their reception, the 
enemy set under way two expeditions for the capture of the " Constella- 
tion." In neither case did the antagonists actually come to blows, for 
the approach of the British was discovered before they came within 
pistol-shot ; and, as their only chance lay in surprising the Americans, 
they retired without striking a blow. The coming of the first expedi- 
tion was known upon the " Constellation " the day before it actually set 
out. A Portuguese merchantman, trying to beat out of the bay, had 
been stopped by the British, and anchored a few miles below the Ameri- 
can frigate. A guard and lookout from the English fleet were stationed 
on the Portuguese to watch the "Constellation." In an unguarded 
moment, these men let fall a hint of the movement under way ; and an 
American passenger on the Portuguese vessel quickly carried the news 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 377 



to Capt. Stewart, and volunteered to remain and aid in the defence. 
The next night was dark and drizzly ; and the British, to the number of 
two thousand, set out in boats for the " Constellation." Hardly were 
they within gun-shot, when two lanterns gleamed from the side of a 
watchful guard-boat ; and the roll of drums and sound of hurrying feet 
aboard the frigate told that the alarm was given. The assailants there- 
upon abandoned the adventure, and returned to their ship. The next 
night they returned, but again retreated discomfited. Several nights later, 
a third expedition came up. This time the guard-boat was far down the 
bay ; and, seeing the huge procession of boats, the Americans calmly 
edged in among them, and for some time rowed along, listening to the 
conversation of the British, who never dreamed that an enemy could be 
in their midst. Suddenly a sailor, more sharp-eyed than the rest, caught 
sight of the interlopers; and the cry was raised, "A stranger!" The 
Americans tugged at their oars, and were soon lost to sight ; but, not 
being pursued, returned, and accompanied their foes up the bay, and even 
anchored with the flotilla at a point above the "Constellation." The 
enemy, finding the Americans constantly on the vatch, abandoned their 
designs on the ship, and vowed that Capt. Stewart must be a Scotch- 
man, as he could never be caught napping. Some days later, an officer, 
sent with a flag of truce to the British fleet, vastly chagrined the officers 
there by repeating their remarks overheard by the guard-boat officers who 
joined the British flotilla in the dark. These three escapes confirmed 
the reputation borne by the "Constellation," as a "lucky ship;" and 
although she remained pent up in port throughout the war, doing noth- 
ing for her country, her luck was unquestioned in the minds of the 
sailors. With her they classed the "Constitution" and "Enterprise," 
while the " Chesapeake " and " President " were branded as unlucky. 
Certainly the career of these ships in the War of 1812 went far to con- 
firm the superstitious belief of the sailors. 

In the course of the next two months, Chesapeake Bay was the scene 
of two gallant adventures, in which American privateersmen were opposed 
to the British sailor.s. On Feb. 8, the privateer schooner " Lottery " 
was standing down the bay under easy sail, out-bound on a voyage to 
Uombay. The schooner was one of the clipper-built craft, for which 
Baltimore ship-builders were famous the world over. Her battery con- 



37^ BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 

sisted of six twelve-pounder carronades, and her crew numbered twenty- 
five men. Near the point at wliicii the noble bay opens into the Atlantic 
ocean, a narrow sheet of water extends into the Virginia shore, winding 
in sinuous courses several miles inland. This is known as Lynnhaven 
Bay ; and on its placid surface there lay, on the morning of the 
" Lottery's " appearance, four powerful frigates flying the British flag. 
From their tops the approaching schooner could be seen across the low- 
lying neck of land that separated the smaller bay from the main body 
of water. The cry of "Sail, ho!" roused the fleet to sudden activity; 
and an expedition of two hundred men was quickly organized to proceed 
against the privateer. Fortune seemed to favor the British ; for hardly 
had the boats left the fleet, when the fresh breeze died away, and the 
schooner was left at the mercy of the boats, which, propelled by the long, 
swinging strokes of man-o'-war oarsmen, bore down rapidly upon her. 
Capt. Southcomb of the " Lottery " was an American sailor, who had 
smelt powder before ; and he had no idea of yielding up his ship without 
a struggle. The formidable force sent against him merely moved him to 
more desperate resistance. When the boats came within range, the guns 
of the "Lottery" opened upon them with a hail of grape and round 
shot. Still the assailants pressed on, and soon came beneath the 
schooner's lee. Dropping their oars, the plucky British tars sprang into 
the chains, swarmed up the bobstay and over the bow, and used each 
other's backs as ladders to aid them to reach the schooner's deck. The 
little crew of privateersmen fought viciously, guarding the side with cut- 
lasses and pistols, hurling the boarders back into the sea, or cutting them 
down as they reached the deck. Cold shot and kentledge were dashed 
upon the boats, in the hopes of sinking them ; while the carronades 
poured a destructive fire upon such boats as could be reached by their 
shot. But the conflict was too unequal to last long. The English sailors 
swarmed over the gunwale on all sides, and, cheering lustily, drove the 
small remnant of defenders below. Capt. Southcomb was cut down, and 
lay mortally wounded upon the deck when the enemy took possession of 
the ship. When the victors came to look about the captured vessel, they 
found such proofs of a desperate resistance, that their admiration was 
open and pronounced. Five only of the schooner's crew were unhurt, 
while the British paid for their success with the loss of thirteen men. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812, 



379 



Capt. Southcomb, in a dying condition, was taken aboard the frigate 
" Belvidera," where he received the tenderest treatment, and was shown 
marked respect on account of his bravery. 

In the next encounter between the blockaders and a privateer, the 




AWAITING THE BOARDERS. 

British bore away the palm for gallantry. This time the privateersmen 
had every advantage, while the British carried the day by pure courage. 
The captured vessels were the privateer schooner "Dolphin," of twelve 
guns, and the letters-of-marque " Racer," " Arab," and " Lynx," of six 
guns each. The crews of the four vessels aggregated one hundred and 



3^0 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

sixty men. Against this force came five boats manned by one hundred 
and five British sailors, who pulled fifteen miles in order to attack their 
foes. Wearied though they were by the long pull, the sight of the 
privateers seemed to arouse new strength in the plucky tars ; and, with 
out a thought of the odds against them, they dashed forward, cheering, 
and calling upon the Americans to surrender. Had the four schooners 
been manned by such brave men as those who defended the " Lottery," 
the assailants might have been beaten off. As it was, two vessels sur- 
rendered without firing a shot. The crew of the "Racer" fought pluckily 
for a time, but were soon overpowered, and the vessel's guns turned 
upon the "Dolphin." When fire was opened upon this last vessel, her 
crew, affrighted, leaped overboard from every side ; and the " Dolphin " 
was soon in the hands of her enemies, who had lost but thirteen men in 
the whole action. 

Many a gallant adventure, such as this, is to be laid to the credit of 
the British tars on the American station during the continuance of the 
blockade. Right dashing fellows were they, at cutting out a coasting- 
schooner as she lay under the guns of some American earthworks. The 
lads that have won for England her supremacy upon the seas harve 
never been behindhand at swarming up the sides of an enemy, leaping his 
taffrail, and meeting him on his own deck with the cold steel. And as 
the year rolled on, and the blockade along the American coast was made 
more strict, the meetings between the enemies became more frequent. 
From every seaport town, Yankee privateers were waiting to escape to 
sea ; and they seldom won clear without a brush with the watchful 
enemy. The British, too, had begun to fit out privateers, though Ameri- 
can commerce offered but little enticement for these mercenary gentry. 
Between the ships of the two private armed navies, encounters were 
common ; and the battles were often fought with courage and seamanship 
worthy of the regular navy. 

Little glory was won by the navy of the United States during the 
opening months of the year. Many ships were laid up in port ; while 
some, like the " Constellation," were blockaded by the enemy. The 
" President " and the " Congress " managed to get to sea from Boston in 
April, and entered upon a protracted cruise, in which the bad luck of 
the former ship seemed to pursue her with malevolent persistence. The 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 38 1 

two ships parted after cruising in company for a month, and scoured 
the ocean until the following December, when they returned home, 
experiencing little but continual disappointments. The " Congress " could 
report only the capture of four British merchantmen, as the result of 
her eight months' cruise ; while the long service had so seriously injured 
her hull, that she was condemned as unseaworthy, and ended her career, 
a dismantled hulk reduced to the ignoble service of store-ship at a 
navy-yard. 

The " President " was little more fortunate in her search for prizes. 
After parting with her consort, she beat about in the vicinity of the 
Gulf Stream, in the hopes of getting a ship or two returning from 
the West Indies. But day after day passed, and no ship appeared. 
Changing his plan, Commodore Rodgers made for the North Sea, feeling 
sure that there he would find in plenty the marine game for which he 
was seeking. But, to his astonishment, not an English ship was to be 
found. It was then the middle of summer, and the frigate had been at 
sea for nearly three months. The jackies on the forecastle were weary 
of the long voyage, and fairly at the end of their occupations for 
"teasing time." The officers, well knowing the effect of long idleness 
upon the sailors, were tireless in devising means of employment. The 
rigging was set up weekly, so that the shrouds and stays were like lines 
drawn with a ruler. Enough rope-yarn was pulled, and spun-yarn spun, 
to supply a navy-yard for months. Laggards were set to scrubbing the 
rust off the chain cables, and sharpening with files the flukes of the 
anchors. When such work failed, the men were drilled in the use of 
cutlasses and single sticks ; forming long lines down the gun-deck, and 
slashing away with right good will at the word of the instructor. But 
the monotony of a long cruise without a prize cannot long be beguiled 
by such makeshifts ; and it was with the heartiest pleasure that the 
sailors heard that the commodore had determined to put into port for a 
time, and take on board stores. 

It was North Bergen, Norway, that Rodgers chose for this purpose; 
and an unfortunate choice it proved to be, for a famine prevailed in 
the country, and only water could be obtained for the ship. Leaving the 
inhospitable port, the " President " was soon again upon the ocean. She 
quickly took two British merchantmen, from which she replenished her 



3^2 BLUE-JACKETS OF i8iz. 

stores. Shortly after, two hostile frigates hove in sight, and the " Presi- 
dent " fled for her life before them for more than eighty hours. At that 
season, in those high latitudes, no friendly darkness settled over the 
ocean to give the fugitive a chance to escape. Bright daylight persisted 
throughout the chase, and the sun never dipped below the horizon. 
Sheer good sailing saved the American frigate, and enabled her to leave 
her pursuers far in her wake. 

For some days thereafter, better luck seemed to attend the frigate 
that so pluckily kept up her operations in seas thousands of miles from a 
friendly port. With true Yankee audacity, she extended her cruise even 
into the Irish Channel, and there preyed upon British commerce until 
the enemy was moved to send a squadron to rout out the audacious 
intruder. Then Rodgers set sail for home. 

On the voyage to the United States, the "President" captured a 
British armed schooner by a stratagem which taught at least one British 
officer to respect "Yankee cuteness." 

It was near the last of September that the frigate was flying along 
before a fresh breeze. Her yards were spread with a cloud of snowy 
canvas, and the wind sung through the straining cordage a melody sweet 
to the ears of the sailor homeward bound. Towards evening, a small 
sail was made out in the distance ; and, as time wore on, it was seen 
that she was rapidly approaching the " President." Rodgers surmised 
that the stranger might be a British vessel, and determined to lure her 
within range by strategy. In some way he had obtained knowledge of 
some of the private signals of the British navy ; and in a few minutes 
from the masthead of the American frigate, there fluttered a row of flags 
which announced her as the British frigate "Sea-Horse." The stranger 
promptly responded, and was made out to be the schooner " Highflyer," 
a little craft noted for her saiUng qualities. Unsuspectingly the " High- 
flyer " came under the stern of the American frigate, and waited for a 
boat to be sent aboard. Soon the boat came ■_ and one of Rodgers's lieu- 
tenants, clad in British uniform, clambered up the side, and was received 
with due honor. He was the bearer of a message from Commodore 
Rodgers, requesting that the signal-books of the "Highflyer" be sent oi; 
board the fictitious " Sea-Horse " for comparison and revision. This the 
British captain hastened to do, and soon followed his books to the deck 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 383 

of the frigate, where a lieutenant met him, clothed in full British uniform. 
A file (-f marines, dressed in the scarlet coats of the British service, stood 
on the deck ; and the duped Englishman greatly admired the appearance 
of the frigate, remarking to the officer who escorted him to Rodgers's 
cabin, that so trim a craft could only be found in His Majesty's 
service. 

On entering the cabin, the English officer greeted Commodore Rodgers 
with deference, and proceeded at once to tell of naval matters. 

" I have here," said he, placing a bundle of papers in the commodore's 
hands, "a numbers of despatches for Admiral Warren, who is on this 
station. You may not know that one of the principal objects of our 
squadron cruising here is the capture of the Yankee frigate ' President,' 
which has been greatly annoying British commerce." 

Rodgers was naturally much interested in this statement, and asked 
the visitor if he knew much about the commander of the "President." 

"I hear he is an odd fish," was the response; "and certainly he is 
devilish hard to catch." 

Rodgers started. He had hardly expected so frank an expression of 
opinion. 

"Sir," said he emphatically, "do you know what vessel you are on 
board of .•• " 

"Why, certainly, — on board of His Majesty's ship 'Sea-Horse.'" 

"No, sir, you are mistaken," was the startling response. "You arc 
on board of the United States frigate 'President,' and I am Commodore 
Rodgers." 

The astounded Englishman sprang to his feet, and rushed to the deck. 
The sight he saw there was still more startling. The quarter-deck was 
crowded with officers in United States uniform. The scarlet coats of the 
marines had vanished, and were replaced by Yankee blue. Even as he 
looked, the British f^ag came fluttering down, the American ensign went 
tip, and the band struck up "Yankee Doodle." 

Nothing was left to the Englishman but to submit ; and, with the best 
grace possible, he surrendered his vessel and himself to the "odd fish," 
who had so cleverly trapped him. 

Three days later, the " President," with her prize, and crowded with 
prisoners, dropped anchor in the harbor of Newport, after a cruise of 



384 



BLUE-JACKETS OF iSi: 



one hundred and forty-eight days. In actual results, the cruise was far 
from satisfactory, for but eleven vessels had been taken. But the service 
rendered the country by annoying the enemy's merchantmen, and draw- 




•I AM COMMODORE RODGERS." 



ing the British war-vessels away in chase, was vast. At one time more 
than twenty British men-of-war were searching for the roving' American 
frigate ; and the seafaring people of the United States were thus greatly 
beneiited by the "President's" prolonged cruise. 




CHAPTER IX. 



DECATUR BLOCKADED AT NEW YORK. — AITEMPTS TO ESCAPE THROUGH LONG ISLANb 
SOUND. — THE FLAG-SHIP STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. — TORPEDOES. — FULTON'S STEAM FRIGATE. 
.-ACTION BETWEEN THE "CHESAPEAKE" AND "SHANNON." 




HILE the "President" was thus roaming the seas, almost 
within sight of the shores of the British Isles, events were 
occurring along the American coast which were little likely to 
raise the spirits of the people of the United States. From the 
"President," the "Congress," the "Essex," and the smaller vessels that 
were upholding the honor of the flag upon the ocean, they could hear 
nothing. But worse than this was it for the good people of New York 
or Boston to go down to the water-side and see stanch United States 
frigates kept in port by the overwhelming forces of the enemy, that lay 
watchfully outside the harbor's mouth. 

For there was no doubt about it : the blockade was daily becoming 
closer ; and in the months of April and May a ship would have found 
it a hard task to run out of New York Harbor without falling into the 
hands of the British fleet stationed there. But, at that very time, throe 
Btout men-of-war floated on the waves of that noble bay, under the com- 

385 



386 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

mand of an officer little used to staying quietly in port in time of war. 
The officer was Stephen Decatur : and the ships were the flag -ship 
" United States ; " the captured " Macedonian," repaired, and flying the 
stars and stripes, under the command of the gallant Capt. Jacob Jones ; 
and the sloop-of-war " Hornet," Capt. Biddle. 

With this force under his command, Decatur burned with the desire 
to get to sea. The watchfulness of the British at the Narrows made it 
useless to think of escaping that way : therefore, he determined to pass 
up the sound, and reach the ocean by way of the opening between 
Montauk Point and Block Island. At the very outset of this voyage, 
however, was a serious obstacle. Through the narrow channel of the 
East River, between Ward's Island and the Long Island shore, the tides 
rushed with a mad speed and turbulence, that had won for the strait 
the significant name of Hell Gate. The United States Government had 
not then bent its energies to undermining and blowing into bits the 
jagged rocks that at low tide reared their crests above the swirling 
eddies. With its tides like mill races, and rocks hidden beneath the 
ireacherous water. Hell Gate was a fearful place for any ship to make 
its way through with the uncertain aid of sails alone. Still greater were 
its dangers for the ponderous and dccp-laden men-of-war, that required 
deep water and plenty of sea-room for their movements. Such consid- 
erations, however, had no weight with Decatur, who had seen his ships 
lying idly at their anchorage off Staten Island long enough. In the 
night of May 24, he accordingly got up anchors and started for the 
sound. 

Hell Gate was passed safely, thanks to a skilful pilot, whom neither 
the darkness of the night, nor the perils of the narrow channel, could 
daunt. Once past this danger, the three vessels made their way up the 
sound, with the flag-ship leading. They had gone but a little way when 
black clouds to the westward told of a coming storm. The cloud-bank 
came rolling up rapidly; and soon, with a burst of rain, the three vessels 
were enveloped in the thunder-shower. The lightning flashed through 
the black clouds, the thunder crashed and roared, and the wind shrieked 
fiercely through the cordage. The " United States " held her place at 
the head of the squadron ; while behind, at the distance of half a cable's- 
Icngth, came the " Macedonian." Suddenly the men on the deck of the 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. ^^7 

latter vessel were horrified to see a jagged flash of lightning cut its 
zigzag course through the clouds, then dart, straight as an arrow, at the 
main-mast of the " United States." Hoarse cries were heard from 
the deck of the stridden frigate ; and the captain of the " Macedonian," 
fearing lest the " States " should blow up, threw all aback on his ship, to 
escape the explosion. But happily the thunderbolt had done little serious 
injury. In its course it had cut away the pendant ; shot into the doctor's 
cabin, extinguishing that worthy's candle, to his vast astonishment ; then, 
gliding away, broke through the ship's hull near the water-line, and 
plunged into the sea, after ripping off a few sheets of copper from the 
ship's bottom. No delay was caused by the accident ; though the super- 
stitious sailors pronounced it an evil omen, and dismally predicted all 
sorts of disasters. 

On the 29th of May the squadron reached the strait through which 
Decatur hoped to gain the ocean ; but, to the intense disappointment of 
all on board, a formidable British fleet barred all egress. Three days 
later the Americans made an attempt to slip out unseen ; but, failing in 
this, they returned to New London harbor, where the two frigates were 
kept rotting in the mud until the war was ended. The " Hornet " luckily 
managed to run the blockade, and of her exploits we shall hear later. 

Upon the arrival of the three American ships at New London, the 
enemy guarded the coast with renewed vigilance. The inhabitants made 
every attempt to drive away the blockaders ; and in the course of this 
prolonged struggle there appeared, for almost the first time in the history 
of warfare, that most terrible of offensive weapons, the submarine torpedo. 

During the Revolution, two attempts had been made to blow up British 
men-of-war by means of torpedoes, invented by a Saybrook mechanic 
named BushncII. Though the attempts failed, yet the torpedoes demon- 
strated their tremendous power. Before the declaration of the second 
war with England, Robert Fulton, the inventor of the steamboat, had 
made many improvements upon Bushnell's designs, and had so thoroughly 
spread the knowledge of torpedo warfare that it suggested itself to many 
New Englanders as a means of driving the enemy from their coast. 

The first attempt was well planned, but failed through an entirely 
accidental combination of circumstances. Certain private citizens (for in 
that day it was thought ignoble for a government to embark in torpedo 



3^8 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

warfare) fitted out in New York a schooner, the " Eagle," in the hold 
of which ten kegs of powder, together with sulphur and piles of heavy 
stones, were placed. In the head of one of the casks were two gun- 
locks, primed, and held in place by two barrels of flour. Should either of 
the barrels be moved, the lock would spring, and the terrible mine would 
explode with tremendous force. With this dreadful engine of destruction, 
carefully covered by a cargo of flour and naval stores, the " Eagle " left 
New York, and made her way up the bay, until, near New London, she 
was overhauled and captured by the British frigate " Ramillies." Boats 
were sent out by the English to take possession of the prize ; but the 
crew of the " Eagle," seeing the enemy coming, took to their small boats, 
and succeeded in safely reaching the shore. The captors, on boarding 
the vessel, were vastly pleased to find that its cargo consisted largely 
of flour, of which the "Ramillies" stood in great need. They at once 
attempted to get the frigate alongside the prize, that the captured cargo 
might be readily transferred. But a calm had fallen, and two hours' con- 
stant work with sweeps and towing was unavailing. Accordingly, this 
plan of action was abandoned, and the boats were ordered to lighter 
the cargo from the "Eagle" to the frigate. Hardly had the first barrel 
been moved, when, with a roar, and rush of flame and smoke as from a 
volcano, the schooner blew up. Huge timbers, stones, and barrels were 
sent flying high into the air. The lieutenant and ten men from the 
frigate, who were on the " Eagle " at the time, were blown to atoms ; 
and the timbers and missiles, falling on all sides, seriously injured many 
men in the boats near by. Had the frigate been alongside, where her 
commander had endeavored to place her, she would have gone to the 
bottom, with all her crew. 

An attempt so nearly successful as this could not be long in leading 
others to make similar ventures. Sir Thomas Hardy, the commander of 
the " Ramillies," was kept in a constant fever of apprehension, lest some 
night his ship should be suddenly sent to the bottom by one of the 
insidious torpedoes. Several times the ship was attacked ; and her escapes 
were so purely matters of accident, that she seemed almost to be under 
the protection of some sailors' deity. A Norwich mechanic, who had 
invented a submarine boat with a speed of three miles an hour, suc- 
ceeded in getting under the bottom of the blockader three times, but 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 389 

was each time foiled in his attempt to attach a torpedo to the ship's 
hull. Another American, a fisherman, succeeded in getting alongside in 
a whale-boat, unobserved, but was driven away before he could get his 
torpedo in position. Such constant attacks so alarmed Hardy, that at 
last he gave up bringing his ship to anchor, keeping her continually 
under way, and, as a further precaution, causing her bottom to be swept 
every two hours throughout the day and night. 

The use of torpedoes was not confined to the people of New England. 
New York Harbor was closed with a row of them. The British seventy- 
four " Plantagenet," lying off Cape Henry, Virginia, was nearly sunk by 
one in the charge of Mr. Mix, an American naval officer. The attack was 
made near ten o'clock, on an unusually dark night. Mi.K and his asso- 
ciates pulled in a heavy boat to a point near the bow of the menaced 
vessel. The torpedo was then slipped into the water, with the clock- 
work which was to discharge it set in motion. The rushing tide carried 
the destructive engine down toward the frigate ; and the Americans pulled 
away into the darkness, to await the explosion. But the clockwork had 
been badly adjusted, and the torpedo exploded just before it reached the 
ship. A huge column of water, gleaming with a ghostly sulphurous light, 
was thrown high in the air, falling with terrific force on the deck of the 
frigate, which was almost capsized by the shock. 

A veritable storm of abuse and condemnation followed the introduc- 
tion of torpedo warfare. All countries and all peoples pronounced it 
treacherous and cowardly, and the English press was particularly loud 
in its denunciations. Yet the torpedo had won its place in the arma- 
ments of nations ; and to-day we see all the nations of Europe vieing with 
each other in the invention and construction of powerful and accurate 
torpedoes and swift torpedo-boats. 

The germ of another feature of modern naval organization is to be 
found in the annals of the War of 1812. The first war-vessel propelled 
by steam was launched by the Americans for service in this war. She 
was designed by Robert Fulton, and bore the name of " Fulton the 
First." In model she was a queer craft, with two hulls like a catamaran, 
with the single propelling-whccl mounted between them amidships. Her 
armament was to consist of thirty thirty-two-pounder guns, and two one- 
hundred-poundcr columbiads. A secondary engine was designed to throw 



390 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 

floods of water upon the decks and through the port-holes of an enemy. 
While the vessel was building, reports concerning her reached England ; 
and soon the most ludicrously exaggerated accounts of her power were 
current in that country. " She mounts forty-four guns," said an English 
paper, "four of which are one-hundred-pounders, mounted in bomb-proofs, 
and defended by thousands of boarding-pikes and cutlasses wielded by 
steam ; while showers of boiling water are poured over those boarders 
who might escape death from the rapidly whirling steel." Unfortunately 
for the American cause, this much dreaded vessel did not get into the 
water in time to take any active part in the war. 

In June, 18 13, while the British blockaders in the Sound were exer- 
cising all their ingenuity to keep of the torpedoes, there was fought off 
the Massachusetts coast, near Boston, an engagement which must go 
down to history as one of the most brilliant naval duels of the age of 
sails. The United States frigate " Chesapeake " was refitting at Boston, 
after a cruise of four months, during which she, had more than justified 
her reputation as an unlucky ship. Though she sailed the waters most 
frequented by British merchantmen, she returned to port having captured 
only four vessels. Three men-of-war were sighted, but could not be 
spoken. Strangely enough, the frigate sailed over the spot where lay 
the sunken " Peacock " the very day after the " Hornet " had fought her 
famous fight. Ill-luck pursued the hapless ship even to her home port ; 
for, as she was entering the port of Boston, a sudden squall carried away 
the topmast, with several men who were aloft at the time. 

When the "Hornet" reached port, after her victory over the "Pea- 
cock," her gallant captain, James Lawrence, was appointed to the com- 
mand of the "Chesapeake." On reaching his ship, he found affairs in a 
desperate condition. The sailors who had sailed on the long and unpro- 
ductive cruise were firmly convinced that the frigate's bad luck was 
beyond remedy. The term of enlistment of many had expired, and they 
were daily leaving the ship. Those who remained were sullen, and smart- 
ing under fancied ill-treatment in the matter of the prize-money. To get 
fresh seamen was no easy task. Great fleets of privateers were being 
fitted out ; and sailors generally preferred to sail in these vessels, in 
which the discipline was light, and the gains usually great. Some sailors 
from the "Constitution" were induced to join the "Chesapeake;" and 



BLUE-JACKETS OF iSia. 39 1 

these, with the remnant of the frigate's old crew, formed the nucleus 
of a crew which was filled up with merchant-sailors and foreigners of 
all nations. Before the lists were fairly filled, the ship put to sea, to 
give battle to an adversary that proved to be her superior. 

The events leading to the action were simple, and succeeded each 
other hurriedly. The port of Boston was blockaded by two British 
frigates, the " Tenedos " thirty-eight, and the " Shannon " thirty-eight. 
The latter vessel was under the command of Capt. Philip Bowes Vera 
Broke, a naval officer of courage, skill, and judgment. His crew was 
thoroughly disciplined, and his ship a model of efficiency. No officer in 
the service understood better than he the difference between the dis- 
cipline of a martinet and the discipline of a prudent and sagacious com- 
mander. His ship might not, like the "Peacock," merit the title of "the 
yacht ; " but for active service she was always prepared. James, an 
English naval historian, turns from his usual occupation of explaining 
the American naval victories by belittling the British ships, and enor- 
mously magnifying the power of the victors, to speak as follows of the 
" Shannon : " — 

"From the day on which he [Capt. Broke] joined her, the 14th of 
September, 1S06, the 'Shannon' began to feel the effect of her captain's 
proficiency as a gunner, and zeal for the service. The laying of the 
ship's ordnance so that it may be correctly fired in a horizontal direc- 
tion is justly deemed a most important operation, as upon it depends, in 
a great measure, the true aim and destructive effect of the shot ; this 
was attended to by Capt. Broke in person. By drafts from other ships, 
and the usual means to which a British man-of-war is obliged to resort, 
the ' Shannon ' got together a crew ; and in the course of a year or two, 
by the paternal care and excellent regulations of Capt. Broke, the ship's 
company became as pleasant to command as it was dangerous to meet." 
Moreover, the historian goes on to relate that the ship's guns were 
carefully sighted, and her ammunition frequently overhauled. Often a 
cask would be thrown overboard, and a gun's crew suddenly called to 
sink it as it bobbed about on the waves astern. Practice with the great 
guns was of daily occurrence. " Every day for a'oout an hour and a half 
in the forenoon, when not prevented by chase or the state of the 
weather, the men were exercised at training the guns ; and for the same 



392 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

time in the afternoon in the use of the broad-sword, musket, pike, etc. 
Twice a week the crew fired at targets, both with great guns and mus- 
ketry; and Capt. Broke, as an additional stimulus beyond the emulation 
excited, gave a pound of tobacco to every man that put a shot through 
the bull's-eye." 

Such was the vessel that in June appeared alone off the entrance to 
Boston Harbor, and by her actions seemed to challenge the "Chesapeake" 
to give her battle. Indeed, Broke's wish to test the strength of the two 
vessels was so great, that he sent in, by the hands of an American 
prisoner, a written challenge, the terms and spirit of which showed the 
writer to be a courageous and chivalric officer and gentleman. "As the 
' Chesapeake ' now appears ready for sea," he wrote, " I request you will 
do me the honor to meet the 'Shannon' with her, ship to ship, to try 
the fortunes of our respective flags. To an officer of your character, it 
requires some apology for proceeding to further particulars. Be assured, 
sir, it is not from any doubt I can entertain of your wishing to close 
with my proposal, but merely to provide an answer to any objection 
which might be made, and very reasonably, upon the chance of our 
receiving any unfair support." Capt. Broke then proceeds to assure 
Lawrence that the other British ships in the neighborhood would be 
sent away before the day of combat. To the challenge was appended a 
careful statement of the strength of the " Shannon," that Lawrence 
might understand that the ships were fairly matched. 

But before this challenge reached Boston, Lawrence had set out to 
seek the enemy. He had seen the " Shannon " lying off the entrance 
to the port ; and, finding out that she was alone, he knew that her pres- 
ence was in itself a challenge that he could not honorably ignore. Nor 
did he desire to avoid the battle thus offered. He had confidence in his 
crew, his frigate, and himself, and looked for nothing but victory. To 
the Secretary of the Navy, he wrote, "An English frigate is now in 
sight from my deck. I have sent a pilot-boat out to reconnoitre ; and, 
should she be alone, I am in hopes to give a good account of her before 
night. My crew appear to be in fine spirits, and I hope will do their 
duty." 

In truth, however, the condition of this same crew was such that the 
captain would have been justified in refusing the challenge. An unusual 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 393 

Tiumbor of foreign sailors were enrolled, among whom was a Portuguese, 
who, in the ensuing battle, did incalculable injury to the cause of the 
"Chesapeake." The crew had never drilled together; many of the sailors 
came on board only a few hours before the ship sailed out to battle. 
All the old sailors were sullen over the delay in the payment of the 
prize-money of their last cruise. Lawrence attempted to allay their dis- 
content by giving them checks for the prize-money ; but the sense of 
injury still lingered in the minds of the men, and they were ill-fitted to 
do battle for the honor of the flag. Added to this evil was the fact that 
the first and second lieutenants and two acting lieutenants were away 
on sick-leave, and the ship was thus left short of officers on the eve of 
battle. 

Regardless of the disadvantages under which he labored, Lawrence 
weighed anchor on the ist of June, and started down the harbor. As 
he approached the ocean, Lawrence mustered his crew aft, and eloquently 
urged them to fight bravely, and do their duty to the country, which had 
entered upon this war in defence of seamen and their rights. Three 
ensigns were run up ; and at the fore was unfurled a broad white flag, 
bearing the motto, " Free Trade and Sailors' Rights." When Law- 
rence closed his speech, and pointed out the flag floating at the fore, 
the men cheered and went forward, leaving the captain convinced that 
he could depend upon their loyalty. 

The morning was bright and cool, with a fresh breeze blowing, before 
which the " Chesapeake " rapidly bore down upon the foe that awaited 
her. Following cautiously in her track came a number of small craft, 
— pilot-boats, sloops, fishing-smacks, and pleasure-boats, — that had come 
down the bay to see the outcome of the battle. Hundreds of people of 
Boston rode along the coast, in hopes of gaining an outlook from which 
the progress of the fight might be viewed. 

At noon the ship rounded Boston Light, and made out into the open 
sea. The "Shannon" went ahead, under easy sail, making up the coast 
toward Salem. Towards five o'clock the "Chesapeake" luffed up for a 
moment ; while the pilot clambered down the side, and put off in a small 
boat. A gun was then fired, as a signal that the Americans were ready 
for action. 

Ttie " Shannon " evidently understood the purport of the signal ; for 



394 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 






she quickly hove to, and troops of agile jackies clambered up her rigging, 
and began to take in sail. The " Chesapeake" followed suit, and was soon 
under only top-sails and jib. She then 
laid her course straight for the enemy. 

A ship preparing for action in that 
day was a scene of hurry and confusion 
that cannot be equalled in this era of 
machinery and few 
guns. At the short, 
broken, rolling beat of 
the drums, calling the 
men to quarters, the 
hurried rush of hun- 
dreds of feet began, as 
the men came pouring 
from all parts of the 
ship to their posts. 
Some clambered aloft 
to their stations in the 
tops ; others invaded 
the sanctity of 
quarter-deck and cap- 
tain's cabin, where 
several guns are al- 
ways mounted. But 
the most stirring scene 
is on the long gun-deck 
where the men grad- 
ually fall into their 
places at the two long 

rows of great guns that peer through the open ports on either side. All are 
stripped to the waist ; and at many a gun the fair skin of the American 
sailor gleams white by the side of some swarthy Spaniard, or still darker 
negro. 

All quiet down on reaching their stations ; and, five minutes after the 
drum-beats, no sound is heard, save perhaps the steps of the black boys, 



the _!m^( h 










BEATING TO QU.ARTERS. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 395 

taking rations of grog around, that the men may " splice the main brace" 
before going into the fight. 

Thus silently did the " Chesapeake" bear down upon her adversary. 
There was no long-range firing ; fur the two commanders were veterans, 
whose chief desire was to settle the dispute yard-arm to yard-arm. Grad- 
ually the American ship ranged alongside the " Shannon," at a distance 
of half pistol-shot; and, as her fore-mast came in a line with the "Shan- 
non's " mizzen-mast, the latter opened fire with her cabin-guns. For a mo- 
ment the "Chesapeake" was silent, waiting for her guns to bear; then, with 
sulphuric flashes and a thunderous roar, she let fly her whole broadside. 
Then followed a duel with great guns. The two ships, lying side by 
side, dealt and received staggering blows. The spectators in small boats, 
who kept a safe distance, and the crowds of eager watchers on the 
far-off heights of Salem, saw through their spy-glasses the flash of the 
first broadsides, and the flying splinters that followed the course of 
the deadly shot. Then a heavy cloud of yellow smoke settled over the 
warring leviathans, and all further incidents of the battle were shut out 
from view. Only the top-masts of the ships, with the half-furled sails 
and the opposing ensigns flying, could be seen above the smoke. 

Under this vaporous pall, the fighting was sharp and desperate. The 
first broadside of the "Shannon" so swept the decks of the American 
frigate, that, of one hundred and fifty men quartered on the upper deck, 
not fifty Were upon their legs when the terrible rush of the shot was 
over. The sailors in the tops of the British frigate, looking down upon 
the decks of their enemy, could see nothing but a cloud of hammocks, 
sjilinters, and wreckage of all kinds, driven fiercely across the deck. 
Hoth men at the wheel fell dead, but their places were soon filled ; while 
fresh gunners rushed down to work the guns that had been silenced by 
the enemy's fearful broadside. In a moment the "Chesapeake" responded 
with spirit, and for some time broadsides were exchanged with incon- 
ceivable rapidity. The men encouraged each other with cheers and 
friendly cries. They had named the guns of the frigate, and with each 
telling shot they cheered the iron-throated monster which had hurled the 
bolt. "Wilful Murder," "Spitfire," "Revenge," "Bull Dog," " IVIad 
Anthony," "Defiance," "Raging Eagle," and "Viper" were some of the 
titles born by the great guns ; and well the weapons bore out the names 

thus bestowed upon them. The gunnery of the Americans was good, their 
U 



39^ BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

shot doing much damage to the enemy's rigging. But the effect of the 
" Shannon's " broadsides was such that no men, however brave, could 
stand before them. They swept the decks, mowing down brave fellows 
by the score. Officers fell on every side. At a critical moment the two 
ships fouled, exposing the "Chesapeake" to a raking broadside, which 
beat in her stern-ports, and drove the gunners from the after-port. At 
this moment, Lawrence was wounded in the leg, but remained at his 
post and ordered that the boarders be called up. Unhappily a negro 
bugler had been detailed for the duty usually performed by drummers ; 
and, at this important moment, he could not be found. Midshipmen and 
lieutenants ran about the ship, striving to call up the boarders by word 
of mouth. In the confusion, the bugler was found skulking under the 
stem of the launch, and so paralyzed by fear that he could only give a 
feeble blast upon his instrument. In the din and confusion of battle, 
the oral orders of the officers only perplexed the men ; and the moment 
for boarding was lost. At that very moment, the turning-point of the 
-:onflict, Capt. Lawrence was struck by a musket-ball, and fell mortally 
wounded to the deck. His officers rushed to his side, and, raising him 
gently, were carrying him below, when in a firm voice he cried, — 

"Tell the men to fire faster, and not give up the ship. Fight Vier 
till she sinks." 

With these words on his lips, he was carried to the ward-room. 

At this moment, the upper deck was left without an officer above the 
rank of midshipman. The men, seeing their captain carried below, fell 
into a panic, which was increased by the explosion of an arm-chest, into 
which a hand-grenade, hurled by a sailor lying out on the yard-arm of 
the "Shannon," had fallen. Seeing that the fire of the Americans had 
slackened, Capt. Broke left his quarter-deck, and, running hastily forward, 
gained a position on the bow of his ship from which he could look 
down upon the decks of the "Chesapeake." His practised eye quickly 
perceived the confusion on the deck of the American frigate ; and he 
instantly ordered that the ships be lashed together, and the boarders 
called up. An old quarterma.ster, a veteran in the British navy, set 
about lashing the ships together, and accomplished his task, although 
his right arm was actually hacked off by the cutlass of an American 
sailor. The bo^irders were slow in coming up, and but twenty men fol 



BLUE-JACKKTS OF 1S12. 



397 



lowed Broke as he climbed to the deck of the "Chesapeake." I'lroke 
led his men straight for the quarter-deck of the frigate. The Americans 
offered but little resistance. Not an officer was in sight to guide the 




ON BOARD THIi ■■ CHESAPE.JVKE." 

men, and the newly enlisted sailors and foreigners fled like sheep before 
the advance of the boarders. 

The British reached the quarter-deck with hardly the loss of a man. 
Here stood Mr. Livermore, the chaplain of the "Chesapeake," who had 
cruised long with Lawrence, and bitterly mourned the captain's fate. 
Determined to avenge the fallen captain, he fired a pistol at Brokc's 
head, but missed him. Broke sprang forward, and dealt a mighty stroke 
of his keen cutlass at the chaplain's head, who saved himself by taking 
the blow on his arm. While the boarders were thus traversing the upper 



398 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

deck, the sailors in the tops of the " Chesapeake " were keeping up a 
well-directed fire, before which many of the Englishmen fell. But this 
resistance was not of long duration ; for one of the " Shannon's " long 
nines, loaded with grape, swept clean the " Chesapeake's " tops. With 
.iiis, the British were in full control of the upper deck. 

Up to this time, the Americans on the gun-deck had known nothing 
of the events occurring on the deck above them. When the news of 
the British assault spread, Lieut. Budd called upon the men to fellow 
him, and drive the boarders back to their own ship. A number of the 
marines (who behaved splendidly throughout the fight) and some twenty 
veteran sailors were all that responded to the call. Broke had in the 
mean time summoned the marines of the " Shannon " to his aid ; and 
the British, led by their dashing commander, were pouring in a dense 
column down the companion-ways to the gun-deck. Budd and his hand- 
ful of followers attacked them fiercely ; and, by the very desperation of 
the onset, the British were forced back a few paces. Broke threw him 
;elf upon the Americans. With his cutlass he cut down the first man 
who attacked him, and bore down upon the others, dealing deadly blows 
right and left. His followers came close behind him. The Americans 
fell on every side, and began to retreat before the overwhelming force 
of their foes. Up from the wardroom came Lieut. Ludlow, already suffer- 
ing from two dangerous wounds. He placed himself beside the younger 
ofificer, and the two strove in every way to encourage their men But 
Ludlow soon fell, with a gaping wound across his forehead. Budd was 
cut down, and fell through the hatchway to the deck beneath. The 
sailors, seeing both officers fall, gave way in confusion ; and the ship was 
in the hands of the British. A few marines kept up a fire through the 
hatchway, but soon were silenced. 

An English of^cer, Lieut. Watts, ran to the halliards to haul down 
tl-.e American flag. But it would seem that the good genius which had 
watched over that starry banner throughout the war was loath to see it 
disgraced ; for the officer had hardly finished his work, when a grape-shot 
from his own ship struck him, and he fell dead. 

The noise of the battle had by this time died away, and the fresh 
breezes soon carried off the smoke that enveloped the combatants. It 
was an awful scene thus exposed to view. On the " Chesapeake " were 
sixty-one killed, and eighty-five wounded men. On the " Shannon " were 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 399 

thirty-three dead, and fifty wounded. On a cot in the wardroom lay Capt. 
Lawrence, his mortal wound having mercifully rendered him unconscious, 
so that he knew nothing of the loss of his ship. Broke had been made 
delirious by the fevered throbbing of the wound he had so long neglected. 
Everywhere were evidences of carnage and desolation. 

Little time was lost in getting the ships in order after the surrender. 
The noise of the hammer and saw was heard in every quarter. The 
wounded were taken to the sick-bay, and the bodies of the dead were 
committed to the ocean. Floods of water and the heavy holystones took 
from the decks the stains of blood. The galley cooks marched up and 
down the decks, sprinkling hot vinegar with a lavish hand. The British 
prize-crew took possession of the captured ship, and in a few hours the 
captor and captive were well on their way toward Halifax. 

They reached port on the 7th of June ; and the sight of the " Shan- 
non," followed by the "Chesapeake" with the .British ensign flying 
proudly over the stars and stripes, stirred the little city to the utmost 
enthusiasm. As the two ships pursued their stately course up the harbor, 
the British men-of-war on all sides manned their yards, and fired salutes 
in honor of the victory. The thunders of the cannon brought the town's- 
people to the water-side, and their cheers rang out lustily to welcome 
their conquering countrymen to port. 

Capt. Lawrence had died the day before ; and his body, wrapped in 
an American flag, lay on the quarter-deck of his frigate. Three days 
later, his body, with that of his gallant lieutenant Ludlow, was laid to 
rest with imposing naval honors, in the churchyard of Halifax. But his 
:ountry, honoring him even in the day of his defeat, was not content 
that his body should lie in the soil of an enemy's country. Two months 
alter the battle, an American vessel, the "Henry" of Salem, entered the 
harbor of Halifax, under cover of a flag of truce, and took on board 
the bodies of Lawrence and Ludlow. They were conveyed first to Salem 
and later to New York, where they now lie under a massive monument 
of sandstone, in a corner of Trinity churchyard. A few feet away, the 
ceaseless tide of human life rolls on its course up and down Broadway ; 
few of the busy men and women pausing to remember that in the 
ancient churchyard lies the body of the man whose dying words, "Don't 
give up the ship," were for years the watchword and motto of the 
United States navy. 




CHAPTER X. 



CRUISE OF THE " ESSEX." - A RICH PRIZE. —THE MYSTERIOCS LETTER. — C.\PE HORN 
ROUNDED. — CAPTURE OF A PERUVIAN PRIVATEER. — AMONG THE BRITISH WHALERS. — 
PORTER IN COMMAND OF A SQUADRON. — A BOY COMMANDER. — THE SQUADRON LAYS 
UP AT NOOKAHEEVAH. 




HILE the events related in the two preceding chapters were 
occurring along the American coast, a few gallant vessels 
were upholding the honor of the stars and stripes in far distant 
lands. To cruise in waters frequented by an enemy's merchant- 
men, and capture, burn, sink, and destroy, is always a legitimate occupa- 
tion for the navy of a belligerent nation. Yet the nation suffering at 
he hands of the cruisers invariably raises the cry of "wanton vandalism 
and cruelty," and brands the officers to whom falls so unpleasant a duty 
with the name of pirates. Such was the outcry raised against Paul 
Jones in the Re\olutionary war; so it was the British described the 
brilliant service of the little brig "Argus" in 1813; and so the people 
of the North regarded the career of the " Alabama " and of he\- Con- 
federate cruisers in the great war for the Union. But perhaps no ship 
400 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 40I 

had ever a more adventurous career, or wrought more damage to the 
enemy's commerce, than the United States frigate " Essex," under 
the command of the able officer David Porter. 

Of the circumstances which led to the famous cruise of the " Essex," 
some account has already been given. With a full crew, and stores 
enough to enable her to keep the sea for some months, the ship set sail 
from the Delaware in the autumn of 1813, and headed to the southward 
with the intention of joining the "Constitution" and "Hornet" at some 
point in the tropics. Her first point of call was at Porto Praya, a 
harbor in the Cape Verd Islands. To the captain's disappointment, he 
could learn nothing of Bainbridge at this place ; and he soon departed, 
after scrupulously exchanging salutes with a rickety little fort, over 
which floated the flag of Portugal. Continuing her southward way, the 
"Essex" crossed the equator, on which occasion the jolly tars enjoyed 
the usual ceremonies attendant upon crossing the line. Father Neptune 
and his faithful spouse, with their attendant suite, came aboard and super- 
intended the operation of shaving and dowsing the green hands, whose 
voyages had never called them before into the Southern seas. Capt. 
Porter looked upon the frolic^ indulgently. He was well known as a 
captain who never unnecessarily repressed the light-heartedncss of his 
crew. Two hours daily were set aside during which the crew were free 
to amuse themselves in any reasonable way. At four o'clock every after- 
noon, the shrill piping of the boatswain's whistle rang through the ship, 
followed by the cry, " D'ye hear there, fore and aft .■' All hands skylark ! " 
No order ever brought a quicker response, and in a minute the decks be- 
came a perfect pandemonium. The sailors rushed here and there, clad in 
all sorts of clothes ; boxed, fenced, wrestled ; ran short foot-races ; played 
at leap-frog, and generally comported themselves like children at play. 
Fights were of common occurrence ; and the two combatants soon became 
the centre of an interested ring of spectators, who cheered on their favorites 
with loud cries of "Go it, Bill. Now, Jack, lively with yer left." But a sailor 
has no better friend to-day than the man he fought yesterday ; and the fights, 
like the play, only kept the crew in good spirits and contentment. 

The day after crossing the equator, the " Essex " sighted a sail and 
gave chase. Towards evening the frigate had gained greatly upon the 
stranger, and Porter displayed all the British signals which he had in his 



402 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

possession. The chase made no response, but set a British ensign. By 
nine o'clock, the " Essex " was within musket-shot, and could easily have 
blown the fugitive out of water ; but this Porter was loath to do, as he 
desired to take the brig without doing her any injury. However, as she 
showed no signs of surrendering, he ordered the marines to give her a 
volley of musketry. One man on tlie chase was killed, and a number 
wounded, upon which her flag was immediately hauled down. She proved 
to be the British packet " Nocton " of ten guns. In her hold was found 
fifty-five thousand dollars in specie, which was at once taken on board 
the "Essex;" and the "Nocton" was sent to the United States under 
the charge of a prize-crew. Before she could make a port, she fell in 
with a British man-of-war, and was captured after a few hours' chase. 

Two days after parting with the " Nocton," the " Essex " hove m 
sight of the Island of Fernando Noronha, off the coast of Brazil. For 
a time the frigate abandoned her warlike character, battened down her 
ports, housed her guns, hid her large crew between decks, and sailed 
into the little harbor looking like a large but peaceable British merchant- 
man. An officer clad in plain clothes went ashore, and, meeting the 
governor, stated that the ship was the ".Fanny " of London, bound for 
Rio Janeiro. During the conversation, the governor remarked that His 
British Majesty's ships, the "Acosta" forty-four, and the "Morgiana" 
twenty, had but recently sailed from the port, and had left a letter for 
Sir James Yeo, requesting that it be forwarded to England as soon as 
possible. With this news, the lieutenant returned to the ship. On hear- 
ing his report, Porter at once surmised that the letter might have been 
left for him by Commodore Bainbridge ; and he at once sent the officei 
back, bearing the message that the "Fanny" was soon going to London, 
and her captain would see the letter delivered to Sir James Yeo, in 
person. The unsuspecting governor accordingly delivered up the epistle, 
and it was soon in Porter's hands. The note read as follows: — 

Mv DE.4R Mediterranean Friend, — Probably you may stop here. Don't attempt 
to water : it is attended with too many difficulties. I learned, before I left Eng- 
land, that you were bound to Brazil coast. If so, perhaps we may meet at St. 
Salvador or at Rio Janeiro. I should be happy to meet and converse on our old 
affairs of captivity. Recollect our secret in those times. 

Your friend of His Majesty's ship "Acosta," 

Sir James Yeo of His British Majesty's ship " Soutliampton." xvl-xvjx. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 403 

Porter read and pondered over this perplexing letter. He felt sure 
that the letter was from Bainbridge ; and in the allusion to St. Salvador 
and Rio Janeiro, he perceived the commodore's wish for a rendezvous at 
one of those places. But what could be the secret of the times of cap- 
tivity.' Suddenly a thought struck him. Might there not be something 
written in sympathetic ink.' Hurriedly calling for a candle, he held the 
letter above its flame, and saw, under the influence of the heat, words 
and sentences appearing where before all was blank paper. 

"I am bound off St. Salvador," it read; "thence off Cape Frio, where 
I intend to cruise until the ist of January. Go off Cape Frio to the 
northward of Rio, and keep a lookout for me." 

That afternoon the governor of the island, looking out toward the 
harbor, was surprised to see the " Fanny " standing out under a full 
spread of canvas. Porter had gained all the information that he wished, 
and was off in search of his consorts. This search he continued until 
the 20th of January, cruising up and down off the Brazilian coast, and 
taking one or two small prizes. In this unprofitable service the ship's 
stores were being rapidly consumed. Among other things, the supply 
of rum began to run short ; and in connection with this occurred a 
curious incident, that well illustrates the character of sailors. The daily 
rations of bread were reduced one-half, and the rations of salt meat one- 
third, without a word of remonstrance from the patient crew. Next the 
discovery was made that the rum was giving out, and a proportional reduc- 
tion in the rations of grog was duly ordered. The jackies put in a vigor- 
ous and immediate protest. They were prepared, they said, to go without 
grog, should the supply of rum be unhappily exhausted ; but so long as 
any of the precious fluid remained, their rations of grog should not be 
curtailed. But to this Porter would not accede, fearing that, should the 
men be altogether deprived of their grog, the health of the crew might 
suffer. Accordingly, when the crew were piped to "splice the main brace" 
the next day, they were told that half rations only would be issued ; and, 
if the grog was not taken up in fifteen minutes, the tub would be over- 
turned, and the rum spilled into the sea. So dire a threat was too much 
for the rebellious seamen : they sprang into line, with their tin cups, and 
drew their curtailed rations without more ado. 

Some days after this occurrence, the "Essex" overhauled a Portuguese 



404 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

vessel, from the captain of which Porter learned that an American frigate 
had shortly before fought and sunk an English frigate off the coast of 
Brazil ; also, that it was rumored that an American corvette of twenty-two 
guns had been brought into Rio, a prize to a British seventy-four. This 
intelligence placed Capt. Porter in some perplexity. He felt convinced 
that the successful American frigate was the "Constitution;" a con- 
jecture in which he was correct, for the news referred to the celebrated 
action of that ship with the "Java." The captured American corvette, 
he concluded, must be the "Hornet;" but herein the captain was wrong, 
for the "Hornet " was at that moment blockading the "Bonne Citoyenne." 

Porter now found it necessary to decide upon a course of action. 
The news which he had received made it appear most improbable that 
he would fall in with either of the United States vessels for which he 
was seeking. He was far from home, cruising in seas much frequented 
by British men-of-war. There were no naval stations or outposts belong- 
ing to the United States, into which he could put for i)rotection or 
repairs ; for then, as now, the nation ignored the necessity of such supply- 
stations. To return home was peculiarly distasteful to the captain, who 
had set sail with the intention of undertaking a long cruise. In this 
dilemma, he wasted but little time in thought. By rounding Cape Horn, 
he would carry the "Essex" into the Pacific Ocean, where British mer- 
chantmen abounded and men-of-war were few. It was an adventurous 
and a perilous expedition to undertake ; but Porter, having decided upon 
it, wasted no time in getting under way. That very night he took his 
ship out of the snug harbor of St. Catherine's, and started upon his long 
voyage around the Horn. 

A winter voyage around Cape Horn, even in the stoutest of ships, is 
an undertaking to be dreaded by the most courageous seamen. The 
" Essex " seemed to meet with more than her share of stormy weather. 
I'Vom the night when she set sail from St. Catherine's, until she dropped 
anchor in a harbor of the Island of Mocha, almost every day witnessed 
a struggle for supremacy between the raging ocean on the one side, and 
skilful seamanship and nautical science on the other. Capt. Porter, how- 
ever, proved himself ready for every emergency. No peril of the deep 
was unforeseen, no ounce of prevention unprovided. .The safety of his 
ship, and the health of his men, were ever in his thoughts; and accord 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 405 



ingly, when the "Essex" rounded into the Pacific Ocean, both men and 
ship were in condition to give their best service to the enterprise in 
which they were embarked. 

After rounding Cape Horn, the "Essex" made her way northward 
along the desolate coast of Chili, until she reached the Island of Mocha. 
Here she anchored for a day, giving the crew a much needed run on 
shore, which they enjoyed with all the zest of schoolboys out for a day's 
holiday. The island afforded little in the way of fresh stores ; but some 
pigs and horses were shot, and devoured with gusto by men who for 
over two months had not tasted fresh meat. From this point the frigate 
made for Valparaiso, and, after reconnoitring the port, put in for water 
and stores. The officers were received with much hospitality by the 
townspeople, and, after a few days' stay, were tendered a complimentary 
ball, — an entertainment into which the young officers entered with great 
glee. But, unhappily for their evening's pleasure, the dancing had hardly 
begun, when a midshipman appeared at the door of the hall, and 
announced that a large frigate was standing into the harbor. Desertii^ 
their fair partners, the people of the " Essex " hastened to their ship 
and were soon in readiness for the action ; while the townspeople thronged 
the hills overlooking the sea, in the hopes of seeing a naval duel. But 
the frigate proved to be a Spaniard ; and, of course, no action oc- 
curred. 

The " Essex " remained several days at Valparaiso, and during her 
stay two or three American whalers put into the harbor. From the 
captains of these craft, Porter learned that the Peruvians were sending out 
privateers to prey upon American commerce, and that much damage had 
already been done by these marauders, who were no more than pirates, 
since no war existed between Peru and the United States. Porter 
determined to put an immediate stop to the operations of the Peruvian 
cruisers, and had not long to wait for an opportunity. A day or two 
after leaving Valparaiso, a sail was sighted in the offing, which was soon 
near enough to be made out a vessel-of-war, disguised as a whaler. 
Porter hung out the English ensign, and caused an American whaler, with 
which he had that morning fallen in, to hoist a British flag over the 
stars and stripes. At this sight, the stranger hoisted the Spanish flag, 
and threw a shot across the bow of the "Essex." Porter responded by 



4o6 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



a few shot that whizzed through the rigging just above the Spaniard's 
Jeck. The latter thereupon sent a boat to the "Essex;" and the officer 
who came aboard, thinking that he was on a British man-of-war, boasted 
)f his ship's exploits among the American whalers. His vessel was the 




THE PERUVIAN PRIVATEER. 



Peruvian privateer "Nereyda" of fifteen guns, and she had captured two 
American whalers, whose crews were even then in the hold of the priva- 
teer. He admitted that Peru had no quarrel with the United States, 
and no reason for preying upon her commerce. The confession, so 
unsuspectingly made, gave Porter ample grounds for the capture of the 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 4°? 

offending vessel. Curtly informing his astounded visitor that he was on 
a United States man-of-war, Porter ordered the gunners to fire two shots 
close to the privateer. This was done, and the Peruvian quickly hauled 
down his colors. The American officers, on boarding the prize, found 
twenty-three American sailors, who had been robbed of all that they 
possessed, stripped of half their clothing, and thrown into the hold 
These unfortunate men were released and sent to the " Essex ; " after 
which all the guns and ammunition of the privateer were thrown over- 
board, and the vessel ordered to return to Callao. 

After this act of summary justice, the "Essex" continued in her 
northward course. She touched at Callao ; but, much to the disappoint- 
ment of all on board, there were no British vessels among the shipping 
at that port. Nor could the lookouts, for some days, discern from the 
masthead any craft other than the double-hulled rafts of logs, called 
catamarans, in which the natives along the Peruvian coast make long 
voyages. Weary of such continued ill-luck. Porter determined to make 
for the Galapagos Islands, where it was the custom of the British whal 
ing-ships to rendezvous. But it seemed that ill-fortune was following 
close upon the "Essex;" for she sailed the waters about the Galapagos, 
and sent out boats to search small bays and lagoons, without finding a 
sign of a ship. Two weeks passed in this unproductive occupation, and 
Porter had determined to abandon the islands, when he was roused from 
his berth on the morning of April 29, 18 13, by the welcome cry of 
"Sail, ho!" 

All hands were soon on deck, and saw a large ship in the offing. All 
sail was clapped on the frigate ; and she set out in hot pursuit, flying the 
British ensign as a ruse to disarm suspicion. As the chase wore on, two 
more sail were sighted ; and Porter knew that he had fallen in with the 
long-sought whalers. He had no doubt of his ability to capture all three ; 
for in those southern seas a dead calm falls over the ocean every noon, 
and in a calm the boats of the " Essex " could easily take possession 
of the whalers. By eight o'clock in the morning, the vessel first sighted 
was overhauled, and hove to in obedience to a signal from the frigate. 
She proved to be the " Montezuma," Capt. Baxter, with a cargo of four- 
teen hundred barrels of si)erm-oil. Baxter visited Capt. Porter in his 
cabin, and sat there unsuspectingly, giving the supposed British captain 



4o8 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

information for iiis aid in capturing American ships. The worthy whaler 
little iinew, as he chatted away, that his crew was being transferred to 
the frigate, and a prize-crew sent to take charge of the "Montezuma." 

By noon the expected calm fell over the water ; and the boats were 
ordered away to take possession of the two whalers, that lay motionless 
some eight miles from the "Essex." The distance was soon passed, and 
'.he two ships were ordered to surrender, which they quickly did, much 
istonishcd to find a United States man-of-war in that region. A breeze 
shortly after springing up, all the prizes bore down upon the frigate ; 
ind the gallant lads of the " Essex " had the pleasure of seeing them- 
selves surrounded with captured property to the value of nearly half a 
million dollars. One of the vessels, the "Georgiana," was a good sailer, 
strongly built, and well fitted for a cruiser. Accordingly she was armed 
tvith sixteen guns and a number of swivels, and placed under the com- 
mand of Lieut. Downes. With this addition to his force, and with the 
other two prizes following in his wake, Porter returned to the Galapagos 
Islands. The first sight of the far-off peaks of the desert islands rising 
above the water was hailed with cheers by the sailors, who saw in the 
Galapagos not a group of desolate and rocky islands, but a place where 
turtle was plenty, and shore liberty almost unlimited. Porter remained 
some days at the islands, urging the crew of the " Essex," as well as the 
prisoners, to spend much time ashore. Signs of the scurvy were evident 
among the men, and the captain well knew that in no way could the 
dread disease be kept away better than by constant exercise on the sands 
of the seashore. The sailors entered heartily into their captain's plans, 
and spent hours racing on the beach, swimming in the surf, and wander- 
ing over the uninhabited islands. 

After a few days of this sort of life, the squadron put to sea again. 
The " Georgianna " now separated from the fleet, and started on an 
independent cruise, with orders for a rendezvous at certain specific times. 
The " Essex " continued to hover about the Galapagos, in the hopes 
of getting a few more whalers. She had not long to wait ; for the whale 
ship " Atlantic " soon fell in her way, and was promptly snapped up. 
The captain of this ship was a Nantucket man, who had deserted the 
flag of his country, to cruise under what he thought to be the more 
powerful flag of Great Britain. Great was his disgust to find that by 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 4^9 

his treachery he had lost all that he desired to protect. While in chase 
of the "Atlantic," a second sail had been sighted; and to this the 
"Essex" now gave chase. On being overhauled, the stranger at first 
made some show of fighting ; but a shot or two from the guns of the 
frigate convinced him of the folly of this course, and he surrendered at 
discretion. The vessel proved to be the whale ship letter-of-marque 
" Greenwich ; " a stout ship, of excellent sailing qualities. She carried 
ten guns, and was in every way a valuable prize. 

Porter had now been in the Pacific Ocean about - three months. On 
the 24th of February, the " Essex," solitary defender of the flag of the 
United States in the Pacific, had turned her prow northward from Cape 
Horn, and embarked on her adventurous career in the most mighty of 
oceans. Now in May, Porter, as he trod the deck of his good ship, found 
himself master of a goodly squadron instead of one stanch frigate. The 
" Essex," of course, led the list, followed by the " Georgianna," sixteen 
guns, forty-two men; "Atlantic," six guns, twelve men; "Greenwich," 
ten guns, fourteen men ; " Montezuma," two guns, ten men ; " Policy," 
ten men. Of these the " Georgianna " had already received her arma= 
ment and authority as a war-vessel ; and the " Atlantic " showed such 
seaworthy qualities that Porter determined to utilize her in the same 
way. Accordingly he set sail for Tumbez, where he hoped to get rid of 
some of his prisoners, perhaps sell one or two of his prizes, and make 
the necessary changes in the "Atlantic." While on the way to Tumbez, 
a Spanish brig was overhauled. Her captain vastly edified Capt. Porter 
by informing him that the " Nereyda," a Peruvian privateer, had recently 
attacked a huge American frigate, and inflicted great damage upon the 
Yankee. But the frigate proving too powerful, the privateer had been 
forced to fly, and hastened her flight by throwing overboard all her guns 
and ammunition. 

On the 19th of June, the "Essex" with her satellites cast anchor in 
the harbor of Tumbez. The first view of the town satisfied Porter that 
his hopes of selling his prizes there were without avail. A more squalid, 
dilapidated little seaside village, it would be hard to find. Hardly had 
the ships cast anchor, when the governor came off in a boat to pay a 
formal visit. Though clothed in rags, he had all the dignity of a Span- 
ish hidalgo, and strutted about the quarter-deck with most laughable 



4IO BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 



r,elf-importance. Notwithstanding his high official station, this worthy 
permitted himself to be propitiated with a present of one hundred 
dollars ; and he left the ship, promising all sorts of aid to the Americans, 
Nothing came of it all, however ; and Porter failed to dispose of any of 
his prizes. While the " Essex " with her train of captives lay in the 
harbor at Tumbez, the " Georgianna " came into port, and was greeted 
with three cheers by the men of the frigate. Lieut. Downes reported 
that he had captured three British ships, carrying in all twenty-seven 
guns and seventy-ftve men. One of the prizes had been released on 
parole, and the other two were then with the "Georgianna." This addi- 
tion to the number of vessels in the train of the "Essex" was somewhat of 
an annoyance to Capt. Porter, who saw clearly that so great a number 
of prizes would seriously interfere with his future movements against 
the enemy. He accordingly remained at Tumbez only long enough to 
convert the "Atlantic" into an armed cruiser under the name of the 
" Essex Junior," and then set sail, in the hopes of finding some port 
wherein he could sell his embarrassing prizes. His prisoners, save about 
seventy-five who enrolled themselves under the American flag, were 
paroled, and left at Tumbez ; and again the little squadron put to sea. 
The " Essex Junior " was ordered to take the " Hector," " Catherine," 
"Policy," and "Montezuma" to Valparaiso, and there dispose of them, 
after which she was to meet the " Essex " at the Marquesas Islands. 
On her way to the rendezvous, the " Essex " stopped again at the Gala- 
pagos Islands, where she was lucky enough to find the British whaler 
" Seringapatam," known as the finest ship of the British whaling fleet. 
By her capture, the American whalers were rid of a dangerous enemy; 
for, though totally without authority from the British Crown, the captain 
of the " Seringapatam " had been waging a predatory warfare against 
such luckless Americans as fell in his path. Porter now armed this new 
prize with twenty-two guns, and considered her a valuable addition to 
his offensive force. She took the place of the " Georgianna," which 
vessel Porter sent back to the United States loaded with oil. 

Among the embarrassments which the care of so many prizes brought 
upon the leader of the expedition was the diflRculty of finding command- 
ing officers for all the vessels. This difficulty was enhanced while the 
flotilla lay off the Galapagos Islands; for two officers, falling into a dis 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 



411 



puto, settled their quarrel, after the manner of the day, by a duel. In 
the contest one, a lieutenant, aged only twenty-one years, was killed, and 
now lies buried in the sands of the desolate and lonely island. After 
this occurrence, the need for commanding officers became so imperative 
that even the purser and chaplain of the " Essex " were pressed into the 
service. Midshi'jmen twelve or fourteen years old found themselves in 




THE DUEL AT THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS 



command of ships. David Farragut was one of the boys thus suddenly 
promoted, and in his journal has left a description of his experience as 
a boy commander. 

"I was sent as prize-master to the 'Barclay,'" he writes. "This was 
an important event in my life ; and, when it was decided that I was to 
take the ship to Valparaiso, I felt no little pride at finding myself m 
command at twelve years of age. This vessel had been recaptured from 
a Spanish giiarda casta. The captain and his mate were on board; ar..l 
I was to control the men sent from our frigate, while the captain was 
to navigate the vessel. Capt. Porter, having failed to di.spose of the 
prizes as it was understood he intended, gave orders for the ' Essex 



412 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

Junior ' and all the prizes to start for Valparaiso. This arrangement 
caused great dissatisfaction on the part of the captain of the 'Barclay,' 
a violent-tempered old fellow ; and, when the day arrived for our separa- 
tion from the squadron, he was furious, and very plainly intimated to 
me that I would 'find myself off New Zealand in the morning,' to which 
I most decidedly demurred. We were lying still, while the other ships 
were fast disappearing from view; the 'Commodore' going north, and the 
' Esse.x Junior ' with her convoy steering to the south for Valparaiso. 

" I considered that my day of trial had arrived (for I was a little 
afraid of the old fellow, as every one else was). But the time had come 
for me at least to play the man : so I mustered up courage, and informed 
the captain that I desired the topsail filled away. He replied that he would 
shoot any man who dared to touch a rope without his orders ; he ' would 
go his own course, and had no idea of trusting himself with a d — d nut- 
shell ; ' and then he went below for his pistols. I called my right-hand 
man of the crew, and told him my situation ; I also informed him that 
I wanted the main topsail filled. He answered with a clear ' Ay, ay, 
sir ! ' in a manner which was not to be misunderstood, and my confidence 
was perfectly restored. From that moment I became master of the 
vessel, and immediately gave all necessary orders for making sail, notify- 
ing the captain not to come on deck with his pistols unless he wished 
to go overboard ; for I would really have had very little trouble in having 
such an order obeyed." 

On the 30th of September, the squadron fell in with the " Essex 
Junior," which had come from Valparaiso. Lieut. Downes reported that 
he had disposed of the prizes satisfactorily, and also brought news 
that the British frigate " Phoebe," and the sloops-of-war " Raccoon " and 
" Cherub," had been ordered to cruise the Pacific in search of the auda- 
cious "Esse.x." More than this, he secured statistics regarding the fleet 
of British whalers in the Pacific, that proved that Porter had completely 
destroyed the industry, having left but one whaler uncaptured. There 
was then no immediate work for Porter to do ; and he determined to 
proceed with his squadron to the Marquesas Islands, and there lay up, 
to make needed repairs and alterations. 

The Marquesas are a desolate group of rocky islands lying in the 
Pacific Ocean, on the western outskirts of Oceanica. In formation they 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 4^3 

are volcanic, and rise in rugged mountain-peaks from the bosom of the 
great ocean. Sea-fowl of all sorts abound ; but none of the lower mam- 
mals are to be found on the island, save swine which were introduced by 
Europeans. The people at the time of Porter's visit were simple savages, 
who had seldom seen the face of a white man; for at that early day 
voyagers were few in the far-off Pacific. 

The island first visited by the " Essex " was known to the natives as 
Rooahooga. Here the frigate stopped for a few hours. During her stay, 
the water alongside was fairly alive with canoes and swimming natives. 
' They were not allowed to come on board, but were immensely pleased 
by some fish-hooks and bits of iron let down to them from the decks of 
the frigate. Not to be outdone in generosity, the islanders threw up to 
the sailors cocoanuts, fruits, and fish. A boat-crew of jackies that went 
ashore was surrounded by a smiling, chattel ing throng of men, women, 
and children, who cried out incessantly, " Taya, taya " (friend, friend), and 
strove to bargain with them for fruits. They were a handsome, intelli- 
gent-looking people ; tall, slender, and well formed, with handsome faces, 
and complexion little darker than that of a brunette. The men carried 
white fans, and wore bracelets of human hair, with necklaces of whales' 
teeth and shells about their necks, -their sole articles of clothing. Both 
men and women were tattoed ; though the women seemed to content 
themselves with bands about the neck and arms, while the men were 
elaborately decorated from head to foot. Though some carried clubs 
and lances, they showed no signs of hostility, but bore themselves with 
that simple air of hospitality and unconscious innocence common to all 
savage peoples of tropical regions, uncorrupted by association with civil- 
ized white men. 

Porter remained but a short time at this island, as its shallow bays 
afforded no safe anchorage for the vessels. But, charmed as he was with 
the friendly simplicity of the natives, he determined to remain some time 
in the vicinity, provided safe anchorage could be found. This essential 
was soon discovered at Nookaheevah, where the ships cast anchor in a 
fine harbor, which Porter straightway dubbed Massachusetts Bay. Hardly 
had the ship anchored, when a canoe containing three white men came 
alongside, and was ordered away by the captain, who thought them 
deserters from some vessel. The canoe then returned to the shore, and 



41 ! BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



the three whites were joined by a vast assemblage of armed natives. 
Porter now began to fear lest he had offended the natives, and proceeded 
at once to the beach, with four boats well armed and manned. But, by 
the time the boats' prows grated upon the white sand, every native had 
disappeared ; ind the sole figure visible was that of a young man, who 
advanced, and, giving a formal naval salute, announced himself as Mid- 
shipman John M. Maury, U.S.N. Porter was greatly surprised to find a 
midshipman in so strange a place ; but the latter e.xplained it by stating 
that he was on furlough, and had been left there by a merchant-vessel, 
which was to call for him. She had never returned, however, and he 
now hailed the " Esse.x " as an opportunity for escape. A second white 
man, who then put in an appearance, naked and tattooed like an Indian, 
proved to be an Englishman who had been on the island for years, and 
who, by his knowledge of the language and character of the natives, 
proved of great assistance to the Americans, during the long stay upon 
which Capt. Porter had determined. 



G) cy^ 





CHAPTER XI. 



WAR WITH THE SAVAGES. — THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE TYPEES. — DEPARTURE FROM 
NOOKAHEEVAH.— THE "ESSEX" ANCHORS AT VALPARAISO.— ARRIVAL OF THE " PHCEBE" 
AND " CHERUB." — THEV CAPTURE THE " ESSEX." — PORTER'S ENCOUNTER WITH THE 
"SATURN."— THE MUTINY AT NOOKAHEEVAH. 




T was now the last of October, 1813. Capt. Porter saw that the 
work he desired done upon the ships under his charge would 
occupy about six weeks, and he at once set about forming such 
relations of peace and amity with the natives as should enable 
him to procure the necessary supplies and prosecute his work unmo- 
lested. Much to his dismay, he had hardly begun his diplomatic palaver 
with the chiefs, when he learned that to keep one tribe friendly he must 
fight its battles against all other tribes on the island. The natives of 
Nookaheevah were then divided into a large number of tribal organiza- 
tions. With three of these the Americans were brought into contact, — 
the Happahs, the Taeehs, and the Typees. The Taeehs lived in the fer- 
tile valley about the bay in which the American squadron was anchored. 
With these people Porter treated first, and made his appearance in their 
village in great state, being accompanied by the band, the marines, and 
several boats' crews of jackies. He was hospitably received by the 
natives, who crowded about to listen to the band, and wonder at the mili- 
t'*ry jirecision of the marines, whom they regarded as supernatural beings. 

415 



4I<5 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 

Gattanewa, the chief, expressed his abounding love for the captain, and 
exchanged names with him, after the custom of the people ; but ended by 
saying that the lawless Happahs were at war with the Taeehs, and the 
Americans, to gain the friendship of the latter tribe, must make common 
cause with them against their enemies. To this Porter demurred, but 
the wily chief thereupon brought forward a most conclusive argument. 
He said that the Happahs had cursed his mother's bones ; and that, as 
he and Porter had exchanged names, that estimable woman was the cap- 
tain's mother also, and the insult to her memory should be avenged It 
is probable that even this argument might have proved unavailing, had 
not the Happahs the next night descended upon the valley, and, having 
burned two hundred bread-fruit trees, departed, leaving word that the 
Americans were cowards, and dared not follow them into their mountain 
fastnesses. Porter saw that his food supplies were in danger from these 
vandals, and his knowledge of savage character convinced him that he 
could have no peace with any of the natives until the insolence of this 
tribe was punished. Accordingly^ he notified the Taeehs, that, if they 
would carry a gun to the top of one of the mountain peaks, he would 
send a party against the Happahs. The Taeehs eagerly agreed ; and, 
after seeing the gun fired once or twice (a sight that set them fondling 
and kissing it, to show their reverence for so powerful a weapon), 
they set off up the steep mountain sides, tugging the gun after them. 
Lieut. Downes led the American forces. They had hardly reached the 
mountain tops, when the fighting began. The Happahs were armed with 
spears, and with slings, from which they threw heavy stones with terrific 
velocity. They seemed to know no fear, and stood gallantly before the 
advancing Americans, fairly darkening the air with clouds of stones and 
spears. The Americans, though few in number, — forty, opposed to nearly 
four thousand savages, — pressed forward, suffering but little from the 
weapons of their foes. From the deck of his frigate in the bay. Porter 
could see the steady advances of his forces, as they drove the Happahs 
from peak to peak. Before the Americans a huge native strode along, 
waving wildly the American flag. The howitzer came in the rear, and 
was every now and then discharged, to drive the foe from some formid- 
able stronghold. So ignorant of fire-arms were the enemy, that they had 
no idea of their power, often fighting until the muzzle of a musket wa3 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



417 



laid to their temples before the discharge. But before nightfall this war- 
like spirit was broken, and the victors returned to their ships, their native 
allies carrying five dead bodies slung on poles. Two only of the Ameri- 
cans were wounded. The next day Happah ambassadors came to sue for 
peace; and soon every tribe on the island joined the alliance, save the 
Tjpees, and a distant tribe that proudly bore the unpronounceable name 
of Hatecaaheottwohos. For two or three weeks peace reigned undis- 
turbed. Work was pushed on the vessels. The rats with which the 




FIRING THE HOWITZER. 



'• Essex " was infested were smoked out, an operation that necessitated 
the division of the crew between the shore and the other vessels. Porter 
himself, with his officers, took up his quarters in a tent pitched on the 
shore. Under some circumstances, such a change would have been rather 
pleasant than otherwise ; but the rainy season had now come on, and the 
tent was little protection against the storms. Noticing this, the natives 
volunteered to put up such buildings as the captain desired, and pro- 
ceeded to do so in a most expeditious manner. At early dawn four 



41 8 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



thousand men set about the work, and by night had completed a walled 
village, containing a dwelling-house for the captain, another for his officers, 
a cooper's shop, hospital, bake-house, guard-house, and a shed for the 
sentinel to walk under. For their services the men received old nails, 
bits of iron hoop, and other metal scraps, with which they were highly 
delighted. The Americans were then living on the terms of the most 
perfect friendship with the natives. Many of the jackies had been taken 
into the families of the islanders, and all had formed most tender attach- 
ment for the beautiful island women ; who, in their turn, were devoted to 
the " Malleekees," who were such mighty men of war, and brought them 
such pretty presents of beads and whales' teeth. The Americans entered 
into the celebrations and festivities of the islanders, watched their dances, 
joined their fishing e.xpeditions, and soon were on the friendliest footing 
with their dusky hosts. 

But so pleasant and peaceful an existence was not destined to con- 
tinue long. The Typees, who inhabited the interior of the island, were 
beginning to stir up strife against the Americans ; and Porter saw that 
their insolence must be crushed, or the whole native population would 
unite in war against him. But to begin a war with the Typees was far 
from Porter's wish. The way to their country lay over rugged precipices 
and through almost impenetrable jungles. The light-footed natives could 
easily enough scale the peaks, or thread the forests ; but to Porter's 
sailors it would be an exhausting undertaking. No artillery could be 
taken into the field, and the immense number of natives that might 
be arrayed against the sailors made the success of the expedition very 
uncertain. Porter, therefore, determined to try to adjust the difficulty 
amicably, and with this purpose sent an ambassador to the Typees, 
proposing a peaceful alliance. The reply of the natives is an amusing 
example of the ignorant vainglory of savage tribes, unacquainted with the 
power of civilized peoples. The Typees saw no reason to desire the friend- 
ship of the Americans. They had always got along very well without it- 
They had no intention of sending hogs or fruit to sell to the Americans. 
If the Americans wanted supplies, let them come and take them. The 
Americans were cowards, white lizards, and mere dirt. The sailors were 
weaklings, who could not climb the Nookaheevan hills without aid from 
the natives. This, and much more of the same sort, was the answer 
of the Typees to Porter's friendly overtures. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 4^9 

This left no course open to the Americans save to chastise the inso- 
lent barbarians. The departure of the expedition was, however, delayed 
until a fort could be built for the protection of the American village. 
This work, a sand-bag battery, calculated to mount sixteen guns, was 
completed on the 14th of November, and preparations for the expedition 
were then begun. And, indeed, it was time that the Americans showed 
that they were not to be insulted with impunity. Already the Taeehs 
and Happahs were beginning to wonder at the delay, and rumors spread 
about the village that the whites were really the cowards for which the 
Typees took them. One man, a chief among the Happahs, was rash 
enough to call Porter a coward to his face ; whereat the choleric captain 
seized a gun, and, rushing for the offender, soon brought him to his 
knees, the muzzle of the weapon against his head, begging for mercy. 
That man was ever after Porter's most able ally among the natives. 

The preparations for war with the Typees were completed, and the 
expedition was about to set out, when a new difificulty arose, this time 
among the white men. First, a plot was discovered among the British 
prisoners for the recapture of the "Essex Junior." Their plan was tc 
.^et the crew drunk, by means of drugged rum, and then rise, seize the 
vessel, and make off while the American forces were absent on the Typce 
expedition. This plot, being discovered, was easily defeated ; and the 
leaders were put in irons. Then Porter discovered that disaffection had 
spread among his crew, which, for a time, threatened serious consequences. 
But this danger was averted by the captain's manly actions and words, 
which l)rought the jackies to his side as one man. 

On the 28th of November the long-deferred expedition against the 
Typees left the snug quarters on the shore of Massachusetts Bay. The 
expedition went by sea, skirting the shore of the island, until a suitable 
landing-place near the territory of the hostile tribe was reached. The 
"Essex Junior" led the way, followed by five boats full of men, and ten 
war-canoes filled with natives, who kept up an unearthly din with dis- 
cordant conches. When the forces landed, the friendly natives were seen 
to number at least five thousand men ; while of the Americans, thirty-five, 
under the command of Capt. Porter, were considered enough for the work 
in hand. I'rom the time the fighting began, the friendly natives kept 
carefully in the rear, and seemed to be only waiting to aid the victors, 
whether they should be Americans or Typees. 



420 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



Capt. Porter and his followers, upon landing, sat down upon the beach 
for breakfast ; but their repast was rudely disturbed by a shower of 
stones from an ambuscade of Typees in the edge of the wood. Stopping 
but a moment to finish their food, the jackies picked up their cutlasses 
and muskets, and started for the enemy. They were soon in the shady 
recesses of the tropical forest, but not a Typee was to be seen. That 
the enemy was there, however, was amply attested by the hail of stones 
that fell among the invaders, and the snapping of slings that could be 
heard on all sides. This was a kind of fighting to which the sailors 
were not accustomed ; and for a moment they wavered, but were cheered 
on by their brave leader, and, pushing through the woods, came to a 
clearing on the banks of a narrow river. But here a sad disaster befell 
them in the loss of Lieut. Downes, whose ankle was broken by a stone. 
He was sent back to the ship, with an escort of five men ; and the party, 
thus reduced to twenty-nine, forded the river, and scaled its high bank, 
cheering lustily, under a heavy fire from the Typees, who made a dogged 
stand on the farther shore. By this time, the last of their savage allies 
had disappeared. 

The advance of the Americans was now checked by a jungle of such 
rank underbrush that the cutlasses of the men made no impression upon 
it ; and they were forced to crawl forward on their hands and knees, 
under a constant fire from the enemy. From this maze, they burst out 
upon a clearing, and, looking about them, saw no sign of their savage 
foes, who had suddenly vanished. The solution of this mystery was soon 
discovered. After marching a few rods totally unmolested, a sudden turn 
in the path brought the Americans in sight of a formidable stone for- 
tress, perched on a hill commanding the road, and flanked on either side 
by dense jungles. The wall of the fortress was of stone, seven feet high; 
and from it, and from the thickets on either side, came such demoniac 
yells, and such showers of stones, as convinced the Americans that they 
were in front of the Typee stronghold. For a time the invaders seemed 
in danger of annihilation. They were totally unprotected, and flanked 
by concealed foes, whose missiles were plunging down upon them with 
deadly effect. Some few secured places behind trees, and began a mus- 
ketry fire ; but the alarming cry soon arose that the ammunition was 
exhausted. Five men were immediately despatched to the beach for 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 42 1 

more cartridges, while the few remaining determined to hold their posi- 
tion at any cost. But to this determination they were unable to adhere. 
Had the Typees charged, the whole American force would have been 
swept away like driftwood before a springtime flood. But the savages 
neglected their opportunity ; and the Americans first gained the protection 
of the bushes, then fell back across the river, and so to the beach. 

Here a council of war was held. They had been beaten back by 
savages ; enormously outnumbered, to be sure, but still opposed by undis- 
ciplined warriors armed with rude weapons. The stain of that defeat 
must be washed out by a victory. Upon one point, all were agreed. 
The Happahs had played them false by leading them over the most 
dangerous roads, and into ambuscades of the enemy. To such treach- 
erous guides, they would not again trust themselves. Before he again 
led his men to battle. Porter wished to try diplomacy. Although he 
knew that he had been beaten in the engagement, it would never do to 
confess defeat before so many savages (for the Taeehs and Happahs 
were now swarming about him, discussing the fight). Accordingly a 
messenger was sent to tell the Typees that a handful of white men had 
driven them into their fort, killing and wounding many. Now a large 
re-enforcement of white men was on the beach, ready to drive them from 
their valley, but that if they would sue for peace they might yet save 
their lives and their villages. At this the Typees laughed. " Tell Opotee," 
said they, " that we have plenty of men to spare ; while his men are few. 
We have killed his chief warrior, and wounded many of his people. We 
are not afraid of his boiiliics [muskets] : they often miss fire, and, when 
they wonnd, don't hurt much. If the Malleekees can drive us from our 
valley, why don't they come and do it.' — not stay on the beach and talk." 

When Porter received this letter, he knew that he must again take 
the field against the Typees, or his half-hearted allies would abandon him 
and join his foes, giving him endless trouble, and putting a stop to the 
refitting of the ships in Massachusetts Bay. He now understood the 
power of his foes, and accordingly chose two hundred men to go with 
him on the second expedition. He also determined to leave behind the 
friendly savages, whose friendship was a very doubtful quality. The 
forces left the beach that very night, and began their weary march up 
the mountain-side. It was bright moonlight ; so that the narrow moun- 



BLUE-JACKETS OF iSra. 



tain paths, the fearful precipices, the tangled jungles, and the swamps 
and rivers were visible to the marching column. By midnight the Amer- 
icans found themselves perched on the summit of a rocky peak overlook- 
ing the Typcc valley, from which arose sounds of drum-beating, singing, 
and loud shouts of revelry. The guides who had led the American col- 
umn said that the savages were rejoicing over their triumph, and were 
calling upon their gods to send rain and spoil the "Malleekees' boiihies." 
Porter knew the time was ripe for a surprise, and the men were eager 
to be led against the enemy ; but the guides protested that no mortal 
men could descend the path leading to the Typee village, at night, so 
precipitous was the descent. The Americans were therefore forced to 
wait patiently until morning. Throwing themselves on the ground, the 
weary sailors were soon asleep, but were waked up in an hour by a heavy 
burst of rain. They saw the rain falling in sheets, and the sky banked 
with black clouds that gave little hope of a stoppage. From the valley 
below rose the triumphant yells of the Typees, who were convinced that 
their gods had sent the shower to spoil the white men's weapons. And, 
indeed, the floods poured down as though sent for that very service ; so 
that at daybreak the Americans found that more than half their powder 
was spoiled. To make matters worse, the precipitous path leading down 
into the valley was so slippery that it would have been madness to 
attempt the descent. Accordingly Porter determined to retreat to the 
Happah village, and there wait for better weather. Before falling back, 
however, he ordered a volley fired, to show the savages that the fire-arms 
were not yet useless. The noise of the volley was the first intimation to 
the Typees that the Americans were so near them, and their village was 
at once thrown into the direst confusion. Cries of surprise mingled 
with the beating of drums, the blowing of horns, the shrieks of women 
and children, and the squealing of pigs being driven to places of .safety. 
In the midst of the tumult the Americans retired to the Happah village, 
where they spent the remainder of that day and the following night. 

The next morning dawned bright and cool after the rain ; and the 
Americans sallied forth, determined to end this annoying affray in short 
order. They soon reached their former station on the cliffs, and, looking 
down upon the Typee territory, saw a beautiful valley, cut up by stone 
walls into highly cultivated farms, and dotted with picturesque villages. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 423 

But though their hearts may have been softened by the sight of so lovely 
a spot, so soon to be laid desolate, they were soon nerved to their work 
by a party of Typees, who were posted on the farther bank of a river 
that skirted the base of the cliff, and were calling out to the Americans, 
calling them cowards, and daring them to come down and fight. Porter 
gave the command ; and the jackies were soon clambering down the cliffs, 
in the face of a rapid fire from their enemies. The bank of the river 
once gained, the Americans halted to rest for a few minutes, and then, 
fording the stream, pushed forward straight for the nearest village. The 
Typees hung upon the flank of the advancing column ; now and then 
making fierce charges, but always beaten back with severe losses. The 
sailors suffered but little, and were soon in possession of the village, 
behind the walls of which the main body halted, while scouting parties 
were sent out to reconnoitre. After a short halt at this point, the 
invaders pushed forward to the ne.xt village, and so on up the valley, 
burning each village as soon as it was captured. Undismayed by their 
continued reverses, the Typees fought doggedly, scornfully refusing to 
listen to the peaceful overtures made by the American commander. 
After marching three or four miles, and fighting for every foot of the 
way, the Americans found themselves before an extensive village, which, 
from its size, and the strength of its fortifications, was evidently the 
Typee capital. Here the savages made a last determined stand, but 
to no avail. The Americans poured over the wall, and were soon in 
possession of the town. The beauty of the village, the regularity of its 
streets, and the air of comfort and civilization everywhere apparent, made 
it hard for Porter to give the fateful order that should commit all to the 
flames. But his duty was clear, and the order was given. Leaving the 
blazing capital behind them, the sailors retraced their steps to the ships, 
having completed the devastation of the valley that a day before was so 
peaceful, fertile, and lovely. The spirit of the Typees was thoroughly 
broken by this crushing blow ; and for the next few days the ships were 
besieged by ambassadors from all the island tribes, begging for peace. 

Feeling assured that he should have no further trouble with the 
natives, Porter now exerted all his energies to complete the repairs on 
the ships, that he might again take the sea. So rapidly did the work 
progress, that by the gth of December the " Essex " and " Essex Junior " 



424 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

were refitted, and stocked with fresh provisions of hogs, cocoanuts, and 
bananas ; the " New Zealander," loaded with oil from the other prizes, 
was ordered to proceed to Now York; whil; the "Greenwich," "Sering- 
apatam," and " Hammond " were to remain at the islands until the 
"Essex" should return for them. These arrangements being made, 
the war-ships made ready to depart.. 

But now arose a difficulty, ludicrous in its cause, but which threatened 
to be serious in its effects. The ships had been lying in harbor for 
about two months ; and during that time the sailors, with unlimited sliore 
liberty, had made such ties as bound them closely to the native people. 
The young girls of the islands, with their comely faces and fair com- 
plexions, had played sad havoc with the hearts of the gallant tars of the 
" Essex ; " and deep was the grumbling among the sailors when they heard 
that the time had come for them to bid farewell to their sweethearts. 
No openly mutinous demonstration was made ; but so old a commander 
could not overlook the fact that some disaffection existed among his 
crew, and a little investigation disclosed the trouble. There could be no 
half-way measures adopted in the case, and Porter at once gave orders 
that all further intercourse with the shore should cease. That very night 
three sailors slipped into the sea, and swam ashore to meet their sweet- 
hearts ; but the wily captain "had stationed a patrol upon the beach, and 
the three luckless Leanders were sent back to the ship in irons. All the 
next day the native girls lined the shore of the bay, and with pleading 
gestures besought the captain to lot the sailors come ashore, but to no avail. 
Some fair maidens even swam off to the ship, but were gruffly ordered 
away by the officers. All this was very tantalizing to the men, who 
hung over the bulwarks, looking at the fair objects of their adoration. 
Ikit one man only showed signs of rebellion against the captain's author- 
ity ; and Porter, calling him out before the crew, rebuked him, and sent 
him ashore in a native canoe : while the rest of the jackies sprang into 
the rigging, set the canvas, and the ship soon left the island, with its 
sorrowing nymphs, far in her wake. 

The two vessels turned their heads toward Valparaiso, and made the 
port after an uneventful voyage of fift-ysix days. The frigate entered the 
harbor at once, and cast anchor; while the "Essex Junior" was ordered to 
cruise about outside, keeping a close watch for the enemy's ships. The 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 425 

friendship of tlie people of the town seemed as great as during the first 
visit of the frigate to the port ; and a series of entertainments was begun, 
that culminated in a grand ball upon the " Essex " on the night of the 7th 
o£ February, 1814. For that one night the officers of the "Essex Junior" 
were absolved from their weary duty of patrolling the sea at the mouth 
of the harbor. The vessel was anchored at a point that commanded a 
view of the ocean ; and her officers, arrayed in the splendor of full dress, 
betook themselves on board of the frigate. At midnight, after an even- 
ing of dancing and gayety, Lieut. Downcs left the "Essex," and returned 
to his vessel, which immediately weighed anchor and put to sea. The 
festivities on the frigate continued a little time longer ; and then, the last 
ladies having been handed down the gangway, and pulled ashore, the 
work of clearing away the decorations began. While the ship's decks 
were still strewn with flags and flowers, while the awnings still stretched 
from stem to stern, and the hundreds of gay lanterns still hung in the 
rigging, the "Essex Junior" was seen coming into the harbor with a 
signal flying. The signal quartermaster rushed for his book, and soon 
announced that the flags read, "Two enemy's ships in sight." At this 
moment more than half the crew of the " Essex " were on shore ; but a 
signal set at the ship's side recalled the men, and in an hour and a half 
the ship was ready for action; while the "Essex Junior" cast anchor in 
a supporting position. 

The two strange vessels were the " Cherub " and the " Phoebe," 
British men-of-war. They rounded into the harbor about eight a.m., and 
bore down towards the American ships. The "Phoebe," the larger of 
the two ICnglishmen, drew close to the " Essex ; " and her commander, 
Capt. Hillyar, sprang upon the taffrail, and asked after Capt. Porter's 
health. Porter responded courteously ; and, noticing that the " Phoebe " 
was coming closer than the customs of war-vessels in a neutral port per- 
mitted, warned the Englishman to keep his distance, or trouble wouM 
result. Hillyar protested that he meant no harm, but nevertheless con- 
tinued his advance until the two ships were almost fouled. Porter called 
the boarders to the bow ; and they crowded forward, armed to the teeth, 
and stripped for the fight. The " Phoebe " was in such a position that she 
lay entirely at the mercy of the " Essex," and could not bring a gun to 
bear in her own defence. Hillyar, from his riosition on the taffrail, could 



426 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

see the American boarders ready to spring at the word of command, 
;ind the muzzles of the cannon ready to blow the ship out of water. 
There is little doubt that he was astonished to find the "Essex" so weli 
prepared for the fray, for he had been told that more than half her 
crew had gone ashore. Relying upon this information, he had probably 
planned to capture the " Esse.x " at her moorings, regardless of the 
neutrality of the port. But he had now brought himself into a dangerous 
Dosition, and Porter would have been justified in opening fire at once. 
But the apologies and protestations of the British captain disarmed him, 
and he unwisely let the " Phoebe " proceed unmolested. 

In his journal, Farragut thus describes this incident: "We were all 
at quarters, and cleared for action, waiting with breathless an.xiety for the 
command from Capt. Porter to board, when the English captain appeared, 
standing on the after-gun, in a pea-jacket, and in plain hearing said, — 

"'Capt. Hillyar's compliments to Capt. Porter, and hopes he is well' 

"Porter replied, 'Very well, I thank you. But I hope you will not 
come too near, for fear some accident might take place which would be 
disagreeable to you.' And, with a wave of his trumpet, the kedge-anchors 
went up to our yard-arms, ready to grapple the enemy. 

"Capt. Hillyar braced back his yards, and remarked to Porter, that, if 
he did fall aboard him, he begged to assure the captain that it would be 
entirely accidental. 

" ' Well,' said Porter, ' you have no business where you are. If you 
touch a rope-yarn of this ship, I shall board instantly.'" 

Notwithstanding Porter's forbearance, the incident came near leading 
to a battle, through the action of one of the crew, who had come off 
from shore with his brain rather hazy from heavy drinking. This mai 
was standing by a gun, with a lighted brand in his hand, ready to fire 
the piece, when he thought he saw an Englishman grinning at him 
through one of the open ports of the " Phoebe." Highly enraged, he 
shouted out, "My fine fellow, I'll soon stop your making faces!" and 
reached out to fire the gun; when a heavy blow from an officer, who 
saw the action, stretched him on the deck. Had that gun been fired, 
nothing could have saved the "Phcebe." 

The two hostile ships cast anchor within long gun-shot of the Ameri- 
cans, and seemed prepared for a long season in port. For the next few 



BLLJK-JACKETS OF 1812. 427 

weeks the British and American officers and seamen met frequently on 
shore ; and a kind of friendship sprang up between them, although they 
were merely waiting for a favorable moment to begin a deadly strife. 
Some incidents, however, took place which rather disturbed the amicable 
relations of the two parties. At the masthead of the " Essex " floated 
a flag bearing the motto, " Free Trade and Sailors' Rights." This 
flag gave great offence to the British, who soon displayed a flag with 
the inscription, " God and Country, British Sailors' Best Rights. Traitors 
offend both." To this Americans responded with, "God, our Country 
and Liberty. Tyrants offend them." Here the debate closed, and 
seemed to arouse no unfriendly feeling ; for Porter and Hillyar talked 
it over amicably on shore. In the course of this conversation, Porter 
challenged the " Phoebe " to meet the " Essex " alone ; but Hillyar dc 
clined the proposition. Shortly after this, the crews of the hostile ships 
began the practice of singing songs at each other ; the Americans begin- 
ning with " Yankee Doodle," while the British retorted with " God save 
the King." Then the poets of the forecastle set to work, and ground 
out verses that would prove particularly obnoxious to the enemy. One of 
the American songs recited at full length the capture of the " Guerriere." 
The character of the poetry may be judged by the first verse. 

" Ye tars of our country, who seek on the main 
The cause for the wrongs your country sustain, 
Rejoice and be merry, for bragging John Bull 
Has got a sound drubbing from brave Capt. Hull." 

The British responded with triumphant verses upon the capture of the 
"Chesapeake," news of which had just reached Valparaiso. Their poetry 

was quite as bad. 

" Brave Broke he waved his sword, 
And he cried, ' Now, lads, aboard ; 
And we'll stop their singing, 

Yankee Doodle Dandy, O ! ' " 

Porter now wished to get rid of some of the prizes with which he was 
encumbered. He could not burn them in the harbor, and the British 
ships kept too close a watch upon him to permit his ships to leave the 
harbor for an hour : so he was forced to wait many days for an oppor- 
Vunity. On the 14th of February the opportunity came; and the "Hector" 



4-'S BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 

was towed out to sea, and set a-firc. Two weeks later, the " I'htebe " 
came alone to the mouth of the harbor, and, after showing; her motto- 
flag, hove to, and fired a gun to windward. This I'orter understood to be 
a challenge, and he at once put out in the "Essex." But the " Phcebe " 
had no intention of entering a fair and equal fight ; for she quickly joined 
her consort, and the two then chased the " Essex " back to port. ]\Iuch 
talk and a vast deal of correspondence grew out of this affair, which 
certainly did not redound to the credit of the British. 

On the 28th of March the wind blev/ with such force that the larboard 
cable of the " Essex " parted ; and the ship, drifting before the wind, 
dragged her starboard cable out to sea. Knowing that the British ships 
were in waiting outside, Porter lost no time in getting on sail and trying 
to beat back into the harbor. But, just as the ship was rounding the 
point, there came up a heavy squall, which carried away the main top- 
mast, throwing several topmen into the sea. In her disabled state the 
frigate could not regain the harbor ; but she ran into a little cove, and 
anchored within half pistol-shot of the shore. Here she was in neutral ■ 
waters ; and, had Capt. Hillyar been a man of his word, the " Essex " 
would have been safe : for that officer, on being asked b)- Porter whether 
he would respect the neutrality of the port, had replied with much feel- 
ing, "You have paid so much respect to the neutrality of the port, that 
I feel bound in honor to respect it." But he very quickly forgot this 
respect, when he saw his enemy lying crippled and in his power, although 
in neutral waters. 

Hardly had the "Essex" cast anchor, when the two British ships drew 
near, their actions plainly showing that they intended to attack the crippled 
■frigate. The " Essex " was prepared for action, the guns beat to quarters ; 
and the men went to their places coolly and bravely, though each felt at 
his heart that he was going into a hopeless fight. The midshipmen had 
hardly finished calling over the quarter-lists, to see that every man was at 
his station, when the roar of the cannon from the British ships announced 
the opening of the action. The " Phcebe " had taken up a position 
under the stern of the American frigate, and pounded away with her long 
eighteens ; while the " Essex " could hardly get a gun to bear in return. 
The " Cherub " tried her fortune on the bow, but was soon driven from 
that position, and joined her consort. The two kept up a destructive 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 429 

fire, until Porter got three long guns out of the cabin-windows, and drove 
the enemy away. After repairing damages, the British took up a position 
just out of range of the "Essex's" carronades, and began a rapid and 
effective fire from their long eighteens. 

Such an action as this was very trying to the crew of the " Essex." 
The carronades against which Porter had protested when his ship was 
armed were utterly useless against an enemy who used such cautious 
tactics. On the deck of the frigate men were falling on every side. One 
shot entered a port, and killed four men who stood at a gun, taking off 
the heads of the last two. The crash and roar of the flying shots were 
incessant. As the guns became crippled for lack of men, the junior oiBcers 
took a hand in all positions. Farragut writes, " I performed the duty of 
captain's aid, quarter-gunner, powder-boy, and, in fact, did every thing 
that was required of me. . . . When my services were not required for 
other purposes, I generally assisted in working a gun ; would run and 
bring powder from the boys, and send them back for more, until the 
captain wanted me to carry a message ; and this continued to occupy me 
during the action." Once during the action a midshipman came running 
up to Porter, and reported that a gunner had deserted his post. Porter's 
reply was to turn to Farragut (the lad was only twelve years old), and 
say, "Do your duty, sir." The boy seized a pistol, and ran away to find 
the coward, and shoot him in his tracks. But the gunner had slipped 
overboard, and made his way to the shore, and so escaped. 

After the " Essex " had for some time suffered from the long-range 
fire of the enemy, Capt. Porter determined to make sail, and try to close 
with his foes. The rigging had been so badly shot away that the flying 
jib was the only sail that could be properly set. With this, and with 
the other sails hanging loose from the yards, the "Essex" ran down 
upon the British, and made such lively play with her carronades, that the 
" Cherub " was forced to haul off for repairs, and the tide of war seemed 
to be setting in favor of the Americans. But, though the gallant blue, 
jackets fought with desperation, their chances for success were small. 
The decks were strewn with dead, the cock-pit was full, and the enemy's 
sLot were constantly adding to the number of dead and dying. Young 
Farragut, who had been sent below after some gun-primers, was coming 
i.p the ladder, when a man standing at the opening of the hatchway was 



43° BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 

'.truck full in the face by a cannon-ball, and fell back, carrying the lad 
vith l)im. The mutilated body fell full upon the boy, who lay for a time 
unconscious ; then, jumping to his feet, ran, covered with blood, to the 
quarter-deck. Capt. Porter saw him, and asked if he was wounded. " I 
believe not, sir," answered the midshipman. "Then," said the captain, 
"where are the primers.'" Farragut remembered his errand, and dashed 
below to execute it. When he emerged the second time, he saw the captain 
(his adopted father) fall, and running up asked if he was wounded. " I be- 
lieve not, my son," was the response; "but I felt a blow on the top of my 
head." He had probably been knocked down by the wind of a passing shot. 

But the end of the action was now near. Dreadful havoc had been 
made in the ranks of both officers and men. The cock-pit would hold 
no more wounded ; and the shots were beginning to penetrate its walls, 
killing the sufferers waiting for the surgeon's knife. Lieut. McKnight 
was the only commissioned officer on duty. The ship had been several 
times on fire, and the magazine was endangered. Finally, the carpenter 
reported that her bottom was so cut up that she could float but a little 
while longer. On learning this, Porter gave the order for the colors to be 
hauled down, which was done. The enemy, however, kept up their deadly 
fire for ten minutes after the " Essex " had struck. 

David I'arragut narrates some interesting incidents of the surrender. 
He was sent by the captain to find and destroy the signal book before 
the British should come aboard ; and, this having been done, he went 
to the cock-pit to look after his friends. Here he found Lieut. Cornell 
terribly wounded. When Farragut spoke to him, he said, "O Davy, I 
fear it's all up with me ! " and died soon after. The doctor said, that, had 
this officer been operated upon an hour before, his life might have been 
saved ; but when the surgeons proposed to drop another man, and attend 
to him, he replied, "No, no, doctor, none of that. Fair play's a jewel. 
One man's life is as dear as another's ; I would not cheat any poor fellow 
out of his turn." Surely history nowhere records more noble generosity. 
Soon after this, when Farragut was standing on the deck, a little negro 
boy came running up to inquire about his master, Lieut. Wilmer, who 
had been knocked over by a shot. On learning his master's fate, he 
leaped over the taffrail into the sea, and was drowned. 

After the " Essex " had been formally surrendered, boats were sent 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 431 

to convey the prisoners to the British ships. In one of these Farragut 
was carried to the "Phoebe," and there fell into a second battle, in which 
the victor}' remained with him. " I was so mortified at our capture that 
I could not refrain from tears," he writes. " While in this uncomfortable 
state, I was aroused by hearing a young reefer call out, — 

"'A prize! a prize! Ho, boys, a fine grunter, by Jove.' 

" I saw at once that he had under his arm a pet pig belonging to 
our ship, called 'Murphy.' I claimed the animal as my own. 

"'Ah,' said he, 'but you are a prisoner, and your pig also!' 

"'We always respect private property,' I replied; and, as I had seized 
hold of 'Murphy,' I determined not to let go unless 'compelled by 
superior force.' 

"This was fun for the oldsters, who immediately sung out, — 

" ' Go it, my little Yankee. If you can thrash Shorty, you can have 
your pig.' 

" ' Agreed,' cried I. 

"A ring was formed in an open space, and at it we went. I soot- 
found that my antagonist's pugilistic education did not come up to mine. 
In fact, he was no match for me, and was compelled to give up the 
pig. So I took Master Murphy under my arm, feeling that I had in 
some degree wiped out the disgrace of the defeat." 

When the British ships with their prize returned to the quiet waters 
of the harbor, and began to take account of damages, it was found that 
the "Essex" had indeed fought a losing fight. On the "Phcebe," but 
four men were killed, and seven wounded ; on the " Cherub," one killed 
and three wounded, made up the list of casualties. But on the "Essex" 
were fifty-eight killed, and sixty-six wounded ; while an immense number 
of men were missing, who may have escaped to the shore or may have 
sunk beneath the waves. Certain it is some swimmers reached shore, 
though sorely wounded. One man had rushed on deck with his clothing 
all aflame, and swam ashore, though scarcely a square inch could be 
found on his body which was not burned. Another seaman had sixteen 
or eighteen scales of iron chipped from the muzzle of his gun driven 
into his legs, yet he reached the shore in safety. 

After some delay, the " Essex Junior " was disarmed ; and the pris- 
oners, having given their paroles, were placed on board her, with a letter 



432 BLUE-JACKETS OK 1812. 

of safe-conduct from Capt. Hillyar to prevent their capture by any 
British man-of-war in whose path they might fall. But this letter availed 
them little ; for, after an uneventful voyage to the northward, the " Essex 
Junior " found herself brought to by a shot from the British frigate 
" Saturn," off Sandy Hook. The boarding-officer took Capt. Hillyar's 
letter to the commander of the " Saturn," who remarked that Hillyar 
had no authority to make any such agreement, and ordered the " Esse.x 
Junior" to remain all night under the lee of the British ship. Capt. 
Porter was highly indignant, and handed his sword to the British officer, 
saying that he considered himself a prisoner. But the Englishman 
declined the sword, and was about to return to his ship, when Porter 
said, "Tell the captain that I am his prisoner, and do not consider my- 
self any longer bound by my contract with Capt. Hillyar, which he has 
violated; and I shall act accordingly." By this Porter meant that he now 
considered himself absolved from his parole, and free to escape honorably 
if an opportunity should offer. 

Accordingly at seven o'clock the following morning, a boat was 
stealthily lowered from the "Essex Junior;" and Porter, descending into 
it, started for the shore, leaving a message, that, since British officers 
showed so little regard for each other's honor, he had no desire to trust 
himself in their hands. The boat had gone some distance before she 
was sighted by the lookout on the " Saturn," for the hull of the " Essex 
Junior" hid her from sight. As soon as the flight was noticed, the 
frigate made sail in chase, and seemed likely to overhaul the audacious 
fugitives, when a thick fog set in, under cover of which Porter reached 
Babylon, L.I., nearly sixty miles distant. In the mean time, the "Essex 
Junior," finding herself hidden from the frigate by the fog-bank, set sail, 
and made for the mouth of the harbor. She was running some nine 
knots an hour when the fog showed signs of lifting ; and she came up ' 
into the wind, that the suspicion of the British might not be aroused 
As it happened, the " Saturn " was close alongside when the fog lifted, 
and her boat soon came to the American ship. An officer, evidently 
very irate, bounded upon the deck, and said brusquely, — 

" You must have been drifting very fast. We have been making nine 
knots an hour, and yet here you are alongside." 

" So it appears," responded the American lieutenant coolly. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 433 

"We saw a boat leave you, some time ago," continued the English- 
man. "I suppose Capt. Porter went in it?" 

"Yes. You arc quite right." 

" And probably more of you will run away, unless I cut away your 
boats from the davits." 

" Perhaps that would be a good plan for you to adopt." 

"And I would do it very quickly, if the question rested with me." 

"You infernal puppy," shouted the American officer, now thoroughly 
aroused, "if you have any duty to do, do it ; but, if you insult me further, 
I'll throw you overboard ! " 

With a few inarticulate sounds, the Englishman stepped into his boat, 
and was pulled back to the "Saturn," whence soon returned a second 
boat, bearing an apology for the boarding-officer's rudeness. The boarders 
then searched all parts of the ship, mustered her crew on the plea that 
it contained British deserters, and finally released her, after having inflicted 
every possible humiliation upon her officers. The "Essex Junior" then 
proceeded to New York, where she was soon joined by Capt. Porter. 
The whole country united in doing honor to the officers, overlooking the 
defeat which closed their cruise, and regarding only the persistent bravery 
with which they had upheld the cause of the United States in the far-off 
waters of the Pacific. 

Before closing the account of Porter's famous cruise, the story of the 
ill-fortune which befell Lieut. Gamble should be related. This officer, it 
will be remembered, was left at Nookaheevah with the prizes " Green- 
wich," " Seringapatam," and "Hammond." Hardly had the frigate disap- 
peared below the horizon, when the natives began to grow unruly ; and 
Gamble was forced to lead several armed expeditions against them. Then 
the sailors under his charge began to show signs of mutiny. He found 
himself almost without means of enforcing his authority, and the disaffec- 
tion spread daily. The natives, incited by the half-savage Englishman 
who had been found upon the island, began to make depredations upon 
the live-stock ; while the women would swim out to the ships by night, 
and purloin bread, aided by their lovers among the crews. To the lieu- 
tenant's remonstrances, the natives replied that "Opotee" was not coming 
back, and they would do as they chose ; while the sailors heard his orders 
with ill-concealed contcmiit, and made but a pretext of obcj'ing them. In 



434 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

the middle of April three sailors stole a boat from the " Greenwich," and, 
stocking it well with ammunition and provisions, deserted, and were never 
again seen. One month later, mutiny broke out in its worst form. Lieut. 
Gamble and his two midshipmen, being upon the " Seringapatam," were 
knocked down by the sailors, gagged, bound, and thrust into the hold. 
The mutineers then went ashore, spiked the guns in the fort, and then, 
hoisting the British colors over the captured ship, set sail. Lieut. Gambia 
was badly wounded in the foot by a pistol-shot fired by one of his guards. 
Notwithstanding his wound, he, with the two lieutenants and two loyal 
seamen, was turned adrift in an open boat. After long and painful exertions, 
they reached the shore, and returned to the bay, where the " Greenwich " 
still lay at anchor. The mutineers, thirteen of whom were Englishmen who 
had enlisted in the American service, steered boldly out to sea, and were 
nevermore heard of. The half-savage Englishman, Wilson, was supposed 
to be at the bottom of this uprising, and some days later a boat's crew 
from the " Greenwich " went ashore to capture him. Soon after, Gamble, 
anxiously watching the shore, saw a struggle upon the beach, the natives 
rushing down on all sides, the boat overturned in the surf, and two white 
men swimming towards the ship, making signals of distress. Mr. Clapp, 
with two men, sprang into a boat, and put off to the aid of the swim- 
mers, leaving Gamble alone on the ship. Two large canoes loaded with 
savages then left the beach, and swiftly bore down towards the " Esse.v ; " 
but Gamble, lamed though he was, seized a lighted brand, and hobbled 
along the deck of the ship, firing her guns with such effect that the 
savages were driven back, the beach cleared, and Mr. Clapp enabled to 
save the two struggling men. When the boat returned to the ship, it 
was learned that Midshipman Feltus and five men had been basely 
murdered by the savages. There were now left but seven Americans; 
and of these but two were well, and fit for duty. Setting the " Green- 
wich " on fire, this little band boarded the " Hammond," and made their 
way to sea. But between the Sandwich Islands and Honolulu they fell in 
with the " Cherub," by whom they were captured, and kept prisoners for 
nine months, when, peace being declared, they were released. 

So ended the last incident of the gallant cruise of the " Esse.x." 
History has few more adventurous talcs to relate.. 




CHAPTER XII. 

CAPTURE OF THE " SURVEYOR."- WORK OF THE GUNBOAT FLOTILLA, —OPERATIONS ON 
CHESAPEAKE BAY. — COCKBURN'S DEPREDATIONS. — CRUISE OF THE " ARGUS." — HER 
CAPTURE BY THE " PELICAN." - BATTLE OF THE "ENTERPRISE" AND "BOXER."-END OF 
THE YEAR 1813 ON THE OCEAN. 



WfW/ 



a 



ITH the capture of the "Chesapeake" in June, 1813, we aban- 
doned our story of the naval events along the coast of the 
United States, to follow Capt. Porter and his daring seamen 
on their long cruise into far-off seas. But while the men of 
the " Essex " were capturing whalers in the Pacific, chastising insolent 
savages at Nookaheevah, and fighting a gallant but unsuccessful fight at 
Valparaiso, other blue-jackets were as gallantly serving their country 
nearer home. From Portsmouth to Charleston the coast was watched by 
British ships, and collisions between the enemies were of almost daily 
occurrence. In many of these actions great bravery was shown on both 

435 



43^ BLUE-JACKETS OF 1 812. 

sides. Noticeably was this the case in the action between the cutter 
"Surveyor" and the British frigate "Narcissus," on the night of June 
12. The "Surveyor," a little craft manned by a crew of fifteen men, 
and mounting six twelve-pound carronades, was lying in the York River 
near Chesapeake Bay. From the masthead of the " Narcissus," lying 
farther down the bay, the spars of the cutter could be seen above the 
tree-tops ; and an expedition was fitted out for her capture. Fifty men, 
led by a veteran officer, attacked the little vessel in the darkness, but 
were met with a most determined resistance. The Americans could not 
use their carronades, but with their muskets they did much execution 
in the enemy's ranks. But they were finally overpowered, and the little 
cutter was towed down under the frigate's guns. The next day Mr. 
Travis, the American commander, received his sword which he had sur- 
rendered, with a letter from the British commander, in which he said, 
" Your gallant and desperate attempt to defend your vessel against more 
than double your number, on the night of the 12th inst., e.xcited such 
admiration on the part of your opponents as I have seldom witnessed, 
and induced mc to return you the sword you had so nobly used, in 
testimony of mine. ... In short, I am at a loss which to admire most, 
the previous arrangement on board the ' Surveyor,' or the determined 
manner in which her deck was disputed, inch by inch." 

During the summer of 181 3, the little gunboats, built in accordance 
with President Jefferson's plan for a coast guard of single-gun vessels, 
did a great deal of desultory fighting, which resulted in little or nothing. 
They were not very seaworthy craft, the heavy guns mounted amidships 
causing them to careen far over in even a sailor's " capfull " of wind. 
When they went into action, the first shot from the gun set the gunboat 
rocking so that further fire with any precision of aim was impossible. 
The larger gunboats carried sail enough to enable them to cruise about 
the coast, keeping off privateers and checking the marauding expeditions 
of the British. Many of the gunboats, however, were simply large gallies 
propelled with oars, and therefore confined in their operations to bays and 
inland waters. The chief scene of their operations was Chesapeake Bay. 

This noble sheet of water had been, since the very opening of the 
year 181 3, under the control of the British, who had gathered there their 
most powerful vessels under the command of Admiral Cockburn, whose 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1 812. 437 

name gained an unenviable notoriety for the atrocities committed by his 
forces upon the defenceless inhabitants of the shores of Chesapeake Bay. 
Marauding expeditions were continually sent from the fleet to search the 
adjacent country for supplies. When this method of securing provisions 
failed, Cockburn hit upon the plan of bringing his fleet within range of 
a village, and then commanding the inhabitants to supply his needs, 
under penalty of the instant bombardment of the town in case of refusal. 
Sometimes this expedient failed, as when Commodore Beresford, who 
was blockading the Delaware, called upon the people of Dover to supply 
him at once with " twenty-five large bullocks and a proportionate quantity 
of vegetables and hay." But the sturdy inhabitants refused, mustered 
the militia, dragged some old cannon down to the water-side, and, for lack 
of cannon-balls of their own, valiantly fired back those thrown by the 
British, which fitted the American ordnance exactly. 

Soon after this occurrence, a large party from Cockburn's fleet landed 
at Havre de Grace, and, having driven away the few militia, captured 
and burned the town. Having accomplished this exploit, the marauders 
continued their way up the bay, and turning up into the Sassafras River 
ravaged the country on both sides of the little stream. After spreading 
distress far and wide over the beautiful country that borders Chesapeake 
Bay, the vandals returned to their ships, boasting that they had despoiled 
the Americans of at least seventy thousand dollars, and injured them 
to the amount of ten times that sum. 

By June, 181 3, the Americans saw that something must be done to 
check the merciless enemy who had thus revived the cruel vandalism, 
which had ceased to attend civilized warfare since the middle ages. A 
fleet of fifteen armed gallies was fitted out to attack the frigate of Cock- 
burn's fleet that lay nearest to Norfolk. Urged forward by long sweeps, 
the gunboats bore down upon the frigate, which, taken by surprise, made 
so feeble and irregular a response that the Americans thought they saw 
victory within their grasp. The gunboats chose their distance, and 
opened a well-directed fire upon their huge enemy, that, like a hawk 
attacked by a crowd of sparrows, soon turned to fly. But at this moment 
the wind changed, enabling two frigates which were at anchor lower down 
the bay to come up to the aid of their consort. The American gun- 
boats drew off slowly, firing as they departed. 



438 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

This attack infused new energy into the British, and they at once 
began formidable preparations for an attack upon Norfolk. On the 20th 
of June they moved forward to the assault, — three seventy-four-gun ships, 
one sixty-four, four frigates, two sloops, and three transports. They were 
opposed by the American forces stationed on Craney Island, which com- 
mands the entrance to Norfolk Harbor. Here the Americans had thrown 
up earthworks, mounting two twenty-four, one eighteen, and four six 
pound cannon. To work this battery, one hundred sailors from the " Con- 
stellation," together with fifty marines, had been sent ashore. A large 
body of militia and a few soldiers of the regular army were also in 
camp upon the island. 

The British set the 23d as the date for the attack ; and on the morn- 
ing of that day, fifteen large boats, filled with sailors, marines, and sol- 
diers to the number of seven hundred, put off from the ships, and dashed 
toward the batteries. At the same time a larger force tried to move 
forward by land, but were driven back, to wait until their comrades in 
the boats should have stormed and silenced the American battery. But 
that battery was not to be silenced. After checking the advance of the 
British by land, the Americans waited coolly for the column of boats to 
come within point-blank range. On they came, bounding over the waves, 
led by the great barge "Centipede," fifty feet long, and crowded with 
men. The blue-jackets in the shore battery stood silently at their guns. 
Suddenly there arose a cry, "Now, boys, are you ready.'" "All ready," 
was the response. "Then fire!" And the great guns hurled their loads 
of lead and iron into the advancing boats. The volley was a fearful one ; 
but the British still came on doggedly, until the fire of the battery became 
too terrible to be endured. "The American sailors handled the great 
guns like rifles," said one of the British officers, speaking of the battle. 
Before this terrific fire, the advancing column was thrown into confusion. 
The boats, drifting upon each other, so crowded together that the oars- 
men could not make any headway. A huge round shot struck the " Cen- 
tipede," passing through her diagonally, leaving death and wounds in its 
track. The shattered craft sunk, and was soon followed by four others. 
The order for retreat was given ; and, leaving their dead and some wounded 
in the shattered barges that lay in the shallow water, the British fled to 
their ships. Midshipman Tatnall, who, many years later, served in the 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 439 

Confederate navy, waded out with several sailors, and, seizing the " Cen- 
tipede," drew her ashore. He found several wounded men in her, — one a 
Frenchman, with both legs shot away. A small terrier dog lay whimper- 
ing in the bow. His master had brought him along for a run on shore, 
never once thinking of the possibility of the flower of the British navy 
being beaten back by the Americans. 

So disastrous a defeat enraged the British, who proceeded to wreak 
their vengeance upon the little town of Hampton, which they sacked 
and burned, committing acts of shameful violence, more in accordance 
with the character of savages than that of civilized white men. The 
story of the sack of Hampton forms no part of the naval annals of the 
war, and in its details is too revolting to deserve a place here. It is 
a narrative of atrocious cruelty not to be paralleled in the history of 
warfare in the nineteenth century. 

Leaving behind him the smoking ruins of Hampton, Cockburn with 
his fleet dropped down the bay, and, turning southward, cruised along 
the coast of the Carolinas. Anchoring off Ocracoke Inlet, the British 
sent a fleet of armed barges into Pamlico Sound to ravage the adjoining 
coast. Two privateers were found lying at anchor in the sound, — the 
"Anaconda" of New York, and the "Atlas" of Philadelphia. The British 
forces, eight hundred in number, dashed forward to capture the two 
vessels. The "Atlas" fell an easy prey; but the thirteen men of the 
"Anaconda" fought stoutly until all hope was gone, then, turning their 
cannon down upon the decks of their own vessel, blew great holes in her 
bottom, and escaped to the shore. After this skirmisl;, the British landed, 
and marched rapidly to Newbern ; but, finding that place well defended 
by militia, made their way back to the coast, desolating the country through 
which they passed, and seizing cattle and slaves. The latter they are 
said to have sent to the West Indies and sold. From Pamlico Sound 
Cockburn went to Cumberland Island, where he established his winter 
quarters, and whence he continued to send out marauding expeditions 
during the rest of the year. 

Very different was the character of Sir Thomas Hardy, who com- 
manded the British blockading fleet off the New England coast. A brave 
and able officer, with the nature and training of a gentleman, he was as 
much admired by his enemies for his nobility, as Cockburn was hated 



44° BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



for his cruelt)'. It is more than possible, however, that the difference 
between the methods of enforcement of the blockade on the New Eng- 
land coast and on the Southern seaboard was due to definite orders from 
the British admiralty : for the Southern States had entered into the war 
heart and soul ; while New England gave to the American forces only a 
faint-hearted support, and cried eagerly for peace at any cost. So strong 
was this feeling, that resolutions of honor to the brave Capt. Lawrence 
were defeated in the Massachusetts Legislature, on the ground that they 
would encourage others to embark in the needless war in which Law- 
rence lost his life. Whatever may have been the cause, however, the 
fact remains, that Hardy's conduct while on the blockade won for 
him the respect and admiration of the very people against whom his 
forces were arrayed. 

On June iS the British blockaders off New York Harbor allowed a 
little vessel to escape to sea, that, before she could be captured, roamed 
r.t will within sight of the chalk cliffs of England, and inflicted immense 
damage upon the commerce of her enemy. This craft was the little ten- 
gun brig " Argus," which left New York bound for France. She carried 
as passenger Mr. Crawford of Georgia, who had lately been appointed 
United States minister to France. After safely discharging her pas- 
senger at L'Orient, the " Argus " turned into the chops of the English 
Channel, and cruised about, burning and capturing many of the enemy's 
ships. She was in the very highway of British commerce ; and her 
crew had little rest day or night, so plentiful were the ships that 
fell in their way.^ It was hard for the jackies to apply the torch to 
so many stanch vessels, that would enrich the whole crew with prize- 
money could they but be sent into an American port. But the little 
cruiser was thousands of miles from any American port, and no course 
was open to her save to give every prize to the flames. After cruising 
for a time in the English Channel, Lieut. Allen, who commanded the 
"Argus," took his vessel around Land's End, and into St. George's 
Channel and the Irish Sea. For thirty days he continued his daring 
operations in the very waters into which Paul Jones had carried the 
American flag nearly thirty-five years earlier. British Merchants and 
shipping owners in London read with horror of the destruction wrought 
by this one vessel. Hardly a paper appeared without an account of some 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 441 

new damage done by the "Argus." Vessels were kept in port to rot at 
their docks, rather than fall a prey to the terrible Yankee. Rates of 
insurance went up to ruinous prices, and many companies refused to take 
any risks whatever so long as the "Argus" remained afloat. But the 
hue and cry was out after the little vessel ; and many a stout British 
frigate was beating up and down in St. George's Channel, and the chops 
of the English Channel, in the hopes of falling in with the audacious 
Yankee, who had presumed to bring home to Englishmen the horrors 
of war. 

It fell to the lot of the brig-sloop " Pelican " to rid the British waters 
of the "Argus." On the night of the thirteenth of August, the Ameri' 
can vessel had fallen in with a British vessel from Oporto, and after a 
short chase had captured her. The usual result followed. The prisoners 
with their personal property were taken out of the prize, and the vessel 
was set afire. But, before the torch was applied, the American sailors 
had discovered that their prize was laden with wine ; and their resolution 
was not equal to the task of firing the prize without testing the quality 
of the cargo. Besides treating themselves to rather deep potations, the 
boarding-crew contrived to smuggle a quantity of the wine into the fore- 
castle of the "Argus." The prize was then fired, and the "Argus" 
moved away under easy sail. But the light of the blazing ship attracted 
the attention of the lookout on the "Pelican," and that vessel came 
down under full sail to discover the cause. 

Day was just breaking, and by the gray morning light the British 
saw an American cruiser making away from the burning hulk of her 
last prize. The " Pelican " followed in hot pursuit, and was allowed to 
come alongside, although the fleet American could easily have left her 
far astern. But Capt. Allen was ready for the conflict ; confident of his 
ship and of his crew, of whose half-intoxicated condition he knew 
nothing, he felt sure that the coming battle would only add more laurels 
to the many already won by the "Argus." He had often declared that 
the " Argus " should never run from any two-master ; and now, that the 
gage of battle was offered, he promptly accepted. 

At six o'clock in the morning, the " Pelican " came alongside, and 
ojicned the conflict with a broadside from her thirty-two pound car- 
ronades. The "Argus" replied with spirit, and a sharp cannonade began, 



442 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

Four minutes after the battle opened, Capt. Allen was struck by a 
round shot that cut off his left leg near the thigh. His officers rushed 
to his side, and strove to bear him to his cabin ; but he resisted, saying 
he would stay on deck and fight his ship as long as any life was left 
him. With his back to a mast, he gave his orders and cheered on his 
men for a few minutes longer ; then, fainting from the terrible gush of 
blood from his wound, was carried below. To- lose their captain so early 
in the action, was enough to discourage the crew of the "Argus." Yet 
the officers left on duty were brave and skilful. Twice the vessel was 
swung into a raking position, but the gunners failed to seize the advan- 
tage. "They seemed to be nodding over their guns," said one of the 
officers afterward. The enemy, however, showed no signs of nodding. 
His fire was ra]iid and well directed, and his vessel manoeuvred in a 
way that showed a practised seaman in command. At last he secured 
a position under the stern of the " Argus," and lay there, pouring in 
destructive broadsides, until the Americans struck their flag, — just forty- 
seven minutes after the opening of the action. The loss on the "Argus" 
amounted to six killed and seventeen wounded. 

No action of the war was so discreditable to the Americans as this. 
In the loss of the " Chesapeake " and in the loss of the " Essex," there 
were certain features of the action that redounded greatly to the honor 
of the defeated party. But in the action between the " Argus " and the 
" Pelican," the Americans were simply outfought. The vessels were 
practically equal in size and armament, though the " Pelican " carried a 
little the heavier metal. It is also stated that the powder used by the 
"Argus" was bad. It had been taken from one of the prizes, and after- 
wards proved to be condemned powder of the British Government. In 
proof of the poor quality of this powder, one of the American officers 
states that many shot striking the side of the " Pelican " were seen to 
fall back into the water ; while others penetrated the vessel's skin, but 
did no further damage. All this, however, does not alter the fact that 
the "Argus" was fairly beaten in a fair fight. 

While the British thus snapped up an American man-of-war cruising at 
their harbors' mouths, the Americans were equally fortunate in capturing 
a British brig of fourteen guns off the coast of Maine. The captor was 
the United States brig "Enterprise," a lucky little vessel belonging to a 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 44^ 



very unlucky class ; for her sister brigs all fell a prey to the enemy. 
The " Nautilus," it will be remembered, was captured early in the war. The 
"Vixen" fell into the hands of Sir James Yeo, who was cruising in the 
West Indies, in the frigate " Southampton ; " but this gallant officer reaped 
but little benefit from his prize, for frigate and brig alike were soon 
after wrecked on one of the Bahama Islands. The "Siren," late in the 
war, was captured by the seventy-four-gun ship "Medway," and the loss of 
the "Argus" has just been chronicled. Of all these brigs, the "Argus" 
alone was able to fire a gun in her own defence, before being cap- 
tured ; the rest were all forced to yield quietly to immensely superior 
force. 

In the war with Tripoli, the " Enterprise " won the reputation of being 
:t "lucky" craft; and her daring adventures and thrilling escapes during 
the short naval war with France added to her prestige among sailors. 
When the war with England broke out, the little brig was put in com- 
mission as soon as possible, and assigned to duty along the coast of Main^. 
She did good service in keeping off privateers and marauding expeditions 
from Nova Scotia. In the early part of September, 181 3, she was cruising 
near Penguin Point, when she sighted a brig in shore that had the appear- 
ance of a hostile war-vessel. The stranger soon settled all doubts as 
to her character by firing several guns, seemingly for the purpose of 
recalling her boats from the shore. Then, setting sail with the rapidity 
of a man-of-war, she bore down upon the American vessel. The " Enter- 
prise," instead of waiting for the enemy, turned out to sea, under easy 
sail ; and her crew were set to work bringing aft a long gun, and mount- 
ing it in the cabin, where one of the stern windows had been chopped 
away to make a port. This action rather alarmed the sailors, who feared 
that their commander, Lieut. Burrows, whose character was unknown to 
them, intended to avoid the enemy, and was rigging the long gun for a 
stern-chaser. An impromptu meeting was heid upon the forecastle ; and, 
after much whispered consultation, the people appointed a committee to 
go aft and tell the commander that the lads were burning to engage the 
enemy, and were confident of whipping her. The committee started 
bravely to discharge their commission ; but their courage failed them 
before so mighty a potentate as the commander, and they whispered 
their message to the first lieutenant, who laughed, and sent word forward 



444 



BLU&-JACKET'^ OF jZi^ 



that Mr. Burrows only wanted 'jo get sea-room, and would pgoi. give the 
jackies all the fighting they desired. 

The Americans now had leisure to examine, through their marine- 
glasses, the vessel which was so 
boldly following them to the place 
of battle. She was a man-of-war 
brig, flying the British ensign from 
both mastheads and at the peak. 







THE FIGHT WITH THE " BOXER." 



Her armament consisted of twelve eighteen-pound carronadcs and two long 
sixes, as against the fourteen eighteen-pound carronadcs and two long nines 
of the " Enterprise." The Englishman carried a crew of sixty-six men, 
while the quarter-rolls of the American showed a total of one hundred and 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 445 



two. But in the battle which followed the British fought with such desper- 
ate bravery as to almost overcome the odds against them. 

For some time the two vessels fought shy of each other, manoeuvring 
for a windward position. Towards three o'clock in the afternoon, the 
Americans gained this advantage, and at once shortened sail, and edged 
down toward the enemy. As the ships drew near, a sailor was seen to climb 
into the rigging of the Englishman, and nail the colors to the mast, giving 
the lads of the "Enterprise" a hint as to the character of the reception 
they might expect. As the vessels came within range, both crews cheered 
lustily, and continued cheering until within pistol-shot, when the two 
broadsides were let fly at almost exactly the same moment. With the 
first fire, both commanders fell. Capt. Blyth of the English vessel was 
almost cut in two by a round shot as he stood on his quarter-deck. 
He died instantly. Lieut. Burrows was struck by a canister-shot, which 
inflicted a mortal wound. He refused to be carried below, and was ten- 
derly laid upon the deck, where he remained during the remainder of the 
battle, cheering on his men, and crying out that the colors of the "Enter 
prise" should never be struck. The conflict was sharp, but short. For 
ten minutes only the answering broadsides rung out ; then the colors of 
the British ship were hauled down. She proved to be the sloop-of-war 
" Boxer," and had suffered severely from the broadsides of the " Enter- 
prise." Several shots had taken effect in her hull, her fore-mast was 
almost shot away, and several guns were dismounted. Three men beside 
her captain were killed, and seventeen wounded. But she had not suffered 
these injuries without inflicting some in return. The "Enterprise" was 
much cut up aloft. Her fore-mast and main-mast had each been pierced 
by an eighteen-pound ball. Her captain lay upon the deck, gasping in 
the last agonies of death, but stoutly protesting that he would not be 
carried below until he received the sword of the commander of the 
"Bo.xer." At last this was brought him ; and grasping it he cried, "Now 
I am satisfied. I die contented." 

The two shattered brigs were taken into Portland, where the bodies 
of the two slain commanders were buried with all the honors of war. The 
" Enterprise " was repaired, and made one more cruise before the close of 
the war; but the "Boxer" was found to be forever ruined for a vessel 
of war, and she was sold into the merchant-service. The fact that she 



446 



BLUE-JACKEIS OF 1812. 



was so greatly injured in so short a time led a London paper, in speaking 
of the battle, to say, "The fact seems to be but too clearly established, 
"at the Americans have some superior mode of firing; and we cannot 
be too anxiously employed in discovering to what circumstances that 
superiority is owing." 

This battle practically closed the year's naval events upon the ocean. 







THE SURRENDER OF THE "BOXER." 



The British privateer " Dart " was captured near Newport by some volun- 
teers from the gunboats stationed at that point. But, with this exception, 
nothing noteworthy in naval circles occurred during the remainder of the 
year. Looking back over the annals of the naval operations of 1813, it 



BLUE-JACKLTS OF 1812. 447 

is clear that the Americans were the chief sufferers. They had the vic- 
tories over the " Peacock," " Boxer," and " Highflyer " to boast of ; but 
they had lost the "Chesapeake," "Argus," and "Viper." But, more than 
this, they had suffered their coast to be so sealed up by British blockaders 
that many of their best vessels were left to lie idle at their docks. The 
blockade, too, was growing stricter daily, and the outlook for the future 
seemed gloomy; yet, as it turned out, in 1814 the Americans regained 
the ground they had lost the year before. 




.^\ 




CHAPTER XIII. 



ON THE LAKES. — CLOSE OF HOSTILITIES ON LAKES ERIE AND HURON. — DESULTORV 
WARFARE OX LAKE ONTARIO IN 1813— HOSTILITIES ON ONTARIO IN 1814.— THE 
BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. -END OF THE WAR UPON THE LAKES. 




N considering the naval operations on the Great Lakes, it must 
be kept in mind, that winter, which checked but little naval 
activity on the ocean, locked the great fresh-water seas in an 
impenetrable barrier of ice, and effectually stopped all further 
hostilities between the hostile forces afloat. The victory gained by Com- 
modore Perry on Lake Erie in September, 1813, gave the Americans 
complete command of that lake; and the frozen season soon coming on, 
prevented any attempts on the part of the enemy to contest the American 
supremacy. But, indeed, the British showed little ability, throughout the 
subsequent course of the war, to snatch from the Americans the fruits 
of the victory at Put-in-Bay. They embarked upon no more offensive 
expeditions ; and the only notable naval contest between the two belliger- 
ents during the remainder of the war occurred Aug. 12, 1814, when a 
party of seventy-five British seamen and marines attempted to cut out 
three American schooners that lay at the foot of the lake near Fort Erie. 
448 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



449 



The British forces were at Queenstown, on the Niagara River ; but by 
dint of carrying their boats twenty miles through the woods, then poling 
down a narrow and shallow stream, with a second portage of eight miles, 
the adventurers managed to reach Lake Erie. Embarking here, they 




ON THE WAY TO LAKE ERIE. 



pulled down to the schooners. To the hail of the lookout, they responded, 
"Provision boats." And, as no British were thought to be on Lake Erie, 
the response satisfied the officer of the watch. He quickly discovered 
his mistake, however, when he saw his cable cut, and a party of armed 
men scrambling over his bulwarks. This first prize, the "Somers," was 
quickly in the hands of the British, and was soon joined in captivity by 
the "Ohio," whose people fought bravely but unavailingly against the 
unexpected foe. While the fighting was going on aboard the vessels, 
they were drifting down the stream ; and, by the time the British victory 



45° BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

was complete, both vessels were beyond the range of Fort Erie's guns, 
and safe from recapture. This successful enterprise certainly deserves a 
place as the boldest and best executed cutting-out expedition of the war. 

Long before this occurrence, Capt. Arthur Singleton, who had suc- 
ceeded to Perry's command, despairing of any active service on Lake 
Erie, had taken his squadron of five vessels into Lake Huron, where the 
British still held the supremacy. His objective point was the Island of 
Michilimackinac (Mackinaw), which had been captured by the enemy 
early in the war. On his way, he stopped and burned the British fort 
and barracks of St. Joseph. At Mackinaw he was repulsed, with the 
loss of seventy men ; after which he returned to Lake Erie, leaving two 
vessels, the "Scorpion" and "Tigress," to blockade the Nattagawassa 
River. The presence of these vessels irritated the British, and they at 
once set about preparations for their capture. On the night of the 3d 
of September the "Tigress" was captured after a sharp struggle, which, 
as the British commanding officer said, "did credit to her officers, who 
were all severely wounded." At the time of the attack, the " Scorpion " 
was several miles away, and knew nothing of the misfortune of her con 
sort. Knowing this, the British sent their prisoners ashore, and, hoisting 
the American flag over the captured vessel, waited patiently for their 
game to come to them. They were not disappointed in their expecta. 
tions. On the 5th the "Scorpion" came up, and anchored, unsuspect 
ingly, within two miles of her consort. At early dawn the next morning 
the " Tigress " weighed anchor ; and, with the stars and stripes still flying, 
dropped down alongside the unsuspecting schooner, poured in a sudden 
volley, and, instantly boarding, carried the vessel without meeting any 
resistance. 

With these two skirmishes, the war upon Lake Erie and Lake Huron 
was ended. But on Lake Ontario the naval events, though in no case 
comparable with Perry's famous victory, were numerous and noteworthy. 

In our previous discussion of the progress of the war upon Lake 
Ontario, vvc left Commodore Chauncey in winter quarter at Sackett's 
Harbor, building new ships, and making vigorous efforts to secure sailors 
to man them. His energy met with its reward ; for, when the melting 
ice left the lake open for navigation in the spring of 1813, the American 
Heet was ready for active service, while the best vessels belonging to the 



BLUE-JACKETS OF i»i2. 45 ' 

British were still in the hands of the carpenters and riggers. The first 
service performed by the American fleet was aiding Gen. Pike in his 
attack upon York, where the Americans burned an almost completed 
twenty-four-gun ship, and captured the ten-gun brig "Gloucester." The 
land forces who took part in this action were terribly injured by the 
explosion of the powder-magazine, to which the British had applied a 
slow-match when they found they could no longer hold their position. 
This battle was fought April 27, 181 3. One month later, the naval forces 
co-operated with the soldiery in driving the British from Fort George, 
on the Canada side of the Niagara River, near Lake Ontario. Perry 
came from Lake Erie to take part in this action, and led a landing party 
under the fire of the British artillery with that dashing courage which he 
showed later at the battle of Put-in-Bay. The work of the sailors in this 
action was cool and effective. Their fire covered the advance of the 
troops, and silenced more than one of the enemy's guns. "The American 
ships," writes a British historian, " with their heavy discharges of round 
and grape, too well succeeded in thinning the British ranks." 

But by this time the British fleet was ready for sea, and left Kingston 
on the 27th of May; while Chaunceyvvas still at the extreme western 
end of the lake. The enemy determined to make an immediate assault 
upon Sackett's Harbor, and there destroy the corvette " Gen. Pike," which, 
if completed, would give Chauncey supremacy upon the lake. Accord- 
ingly the fleet under Sir James Lucas Yeo, with a large body of troops 
under Sir George Prescott, appeared before the harbor on the 29th. 
Although the forces which rallied to the defence of the village were 
chiefly raw militia, the British attack was conducted with so little spirit 
that the defenders won the day ; and the enemy retreated, leaving most 
of his wounded to fall into the hands of the Americans. Yeo then 
returned to Kingston ; and the American fleet came up the lake, and 
put into Sackett's Harbor, there to remain until the completion of the 
"Pike" should give Chauncey control of the lake. While the Americans 
thus remained in port, the. British squadron made brief incursions into 
the lake, capturing a few schooners and breaking up one or two encamp- 
ments of the land forces of the United States. 

Not until the 21st of July did the Americans leave their anchorage. 
On that day, with the formidable corvette " Pike " at the head of the 



452 Bl.Ui; JACKETS OF 1S12. 

line, Chauncey left Sackett's Harbor, and went up to Niagara. Some days 
later, Yeo took his squadron to sea ; and on the 7th of August the two 
hostile fleets came in sight of one another for the first time. Then 
followed a season of manoeuvring, — of challenging and counter-challenging, 
of offering battle and of avoiding it, — terminating in so inconclusive an 
engagement that one is forced to believe that neither commander dared 
to enter the battle for which both had been so long preparing. The 
American squadron consisted largely of schooners armed with long guns. 
In smooth weather these craft were valuable adjuncts to the larger vessels, 
while in rough weather they were useless. Yeo's squadron was mostly 
square-rigged, and was therefore equally serviceable in all kinds of weather. 
It seems likely, therefore, that the Americans strove to bring on the 
conflict in smooth weather ; while the British were determined to wait 
until a heavy sea should lessen the force of their foes. In this dilemma 
several days passed away. 

On the night of the 7th of August the wind came up to blow, and 
he rising waves soon demonstrated the uselessness of schooners for pur 
poses of war. At early dawn a fierce gust of wind caused the schooners 
" Hamilton " and " Scourge " to careen far to leeward. Their heavy guns 
broke loose ; then, crashing down to the submerged beams of the schooners, 
pulled them still farther over ; and, the water rushing in at their hatches, 
they foundered, carrying with them to the bottom all their officers, and 
all but sixteen of the men. This loss reduced Chauncey's force to more 
of an equality with that of the British ; yet for two days longer the 
manoeuvring continued, without a shot being fired. On the night of 
the loth the two squadrons formed in order of battle, and rapidly ap- 
proached each other. At eleven o'clock a cannonade was begun by both 
parties, and continued for about an hour ; though the shot did little 
material damage on either side. At midnight the British, by a quick 
movement, cut out and captured two American schooners, and sailed 
away, without suffering any damage. 

A month then intervened before the ne.xt hostile meeting. In his 
despatches to his superior authorities, each commander stoutly affirms that 
he spent the time in chasing the enemy, who refused to give him battle. 
Whether it was the British or the Americans that avoided the battle, it 
is impossible to decide ; but it seems reasonable to believe, that, had 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 453 

either party been really determined upon bringing matters to an issue, 
the other could have been forced into giving battle. 

On the nth of September, the enemies met near the mouth of the 
Genesee River, and exchanged broadsides. A few of the British vessels 
were hulled, and, without more ado, hauled off into the shallow waters of 
Ambcrt Bay, whither the Americans could not follow them. Then ensued 
another long period of peace, broken at last by a naval action in York 
Bay, on the 28th, in which the British were worsted and obliged to fly, 
though none of their ships were destroyed or captured. On Oct. 2, 
Chauncey accomplished a really important work, by capturing five British 
transports, with two hundred and si.\ty-four m^i., seven naval and ten 
army officers. With this achievement, the .*ctive work of the Ontario 
squadron ended for the year, as Chauncey remained blockading Yeo at 
Kingston, until the approach of winter rendered that precaution no longer 
necessary. 

The navigable season of 18 14 opened with the British first upon the 
lake. The long winter had been employed by the belligerents in addir..; 
to their fleets ; a work completed first by Yeo, who put cmt upon the lake 
on the 3d of May, with eight square-rigged vessels, of which two weie 
new frigates. The Americans had given up their unseaworthy schooners, 
and had a fleet of eight square-rigged vessels nearly ready, but still lacking 
the cordage and guns for the three new craft. Yeo thus had the lake 
to himself for a time, and began a vigorous campaign by an attack upon 
Oswego, aided by a large body of British troops. Succeeding in this enter- 
prise, he set sail for Sackett's Harbor, and, taking up his position just 
outside the bar, disposed his vessels for a long and strict blockade. This 
action was particularly troublesome to the Americans at that time ; for 
their new frigates were just ready for their guns and cables, which could 
not be brought overland, and the arrival of which by water was seemingly 
prevented by the blockade. It was in this emergency that the plan, 
already described, for transporting the great cable for the "Niagara" 
overland, on the backs of men, was decided upon. Yeo remained on guard 
at the mouth of the harbor until the 6lh of Juno, then raised the blockade, 
and disappeared down the lake. For si.x weeks the Americans continued 
working on their fleet, to get the ships ready for service. During this 
time the British gunboat "Black Snake" was brought into the harbor, a 



454 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

prize to Lieut. Gregory, who had captured it by a sudden assault, with 
a score of sailors at his back. On the ist of July, the same officer 
made a sudden descent upon Presque Isle, where he found a British vessel 
pierced for fourteen guns on the stocks, ready for launching. The raiders 
hastily set fire to the ship, and retreated before the enemy could get hi.s 
iorces together 

It was July 31 before Chauncey set sail from Sackett's Harbor. He 
now had under his command a squadron of eight vessels, two of which 
were frigates, two ship sloops-of-war, and eight brig-sloops of no mean 
power. Yeo had, to oppose this force, a fleet of no less respectable propor- 
tions. Yet, for the rt mainder of the year, these two squadrons cruised 
about the lake, or blockaJ:?d each other in turn, without once coming to 
battle. As transports, the vessels were of some service to their respec- 
tive governments ; but, so fur as any actual naval operations were con- 
cerned, they might as well never have been built. The war closed, 
leaving the two cautious commanders still waiting for a satisfactory occasion 
'or giving battle. 

Such was the course of the naval war upon the Great Lakes ; but the 
thunder of hostile cannon and the cheers of sailors were heard upon yet 
another sheet of fresh water, before the quarrel between England and the 
United States was settled. In the north-east corner of New York State, 
and slightly overlapping the Canada line, lies Lake Champlain, — a pictur- 
esque sheet of water, narrow, and dotted with wooded islands. From the 
northern end of the lake flows the Richelieu River, which follows a 
straight course through Canada to the St. Lawrence, into which it emp- 
ties. The long, navigable water-way thus open from Canada to the very 
heart of New York was to the British a most tempting path for an 
invading expedition. By the shore of the lake a road wound along; thus 
smoothing the way for a land force, whose advance might be protected 
by the fire of the naval force that should proceed up the lake. Naturally, 
.so admirable an international highway early attracted the attention of the 
military authorities of both belligerents ; and, while the British pressed 
forward their preparations for an invading expedition, the Americans 
hastened to make such arrangements as should give them control of the 
lake. Her European wars, however, made so great a demand for soldiers 
upon Great Britain, that not until 1814 could she send to America a 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 455 

sufficient force to undertake the invasion of the United States from the 
north. In the spring of that year, a force of from ten thousand to fifteen 
thousand troops, including several thousand veterans who had served under 
Wellington, were massed at Montreal ; and in May a move was made by 
the British to get control of the lake, before sending their invading forces 
into New York. The British naval force already in the Richelieu River, 
and available for service, consisted of a brig, two sloops, and twelve or 
fourteen gunboats. The American flotilla included a large corvette, a 
schooner, a small sloop, and ten gunboats, or galleys, propelled with oars. 
Seeing that the British were preparing for active hostilities, the Ameri- 
cans began to build, with all possible speed, a large brig ; a move which 
the enemy promptly met by pushing forward with equal energy the con- 
struction of a frigate. While the new vessels were on the stocks, an 
irregular warfare was carried on by those already in commission. At 
the opening of the season, the American vessels lay in Otter Creek ; and, 
just as they were ready to leave port, the enemy appeared off the mouth 
of the creek with a force consisting of the brig " Linnet " and eight c: 
ten galleys. The object of the British was to so obstruct the mouth of 
the creek that the Americans should be unable to come out. With this 
end in view, they had brought two sloops laden with stones, which they 
intended to sink in the narrow channel. But, luckily, the Americans had 
thrown up earthworks at the mouth of the river ; and a party of sailors 
so worked the guns, that, after much manoeuvring, the British were 
forced to retire without effecting their purpose. 

About the middle of August, the Americans launched their new brig, 
the "Eagle;" and the little squadron put out at once into the lake, under 
command of Capt. Thomas Macdonough. Eight days later, the British 
got their new ship, the " Confiance," into the water. She possessed one 
feature new to American naval architecture, — a furnace in which to 
heat carmon-balls. 

• By this time (September, 18 14), the invading column of British vet- 
erans, eleven thousand strong, had begun its march into New York along 
the west shore of the lake. Two thousand Americans only could be 
gathered to dispute their progress ; and these, under the command of 
Brigadier-Gen. Macomb, were gathered at Plattsburg. To this point, 
accordingly, Macdonough took his fleet, and awaited the coming of the 



45^ BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

enemy; knowing that if he could beat back the fleet of the British, their 
land forces, however powerful, would be forced to cease their advance. 
The fleet that he commanded consisted of the flag-ship " Saratoga," carry- 
ing eight long twenty-four-pounders, six foily-two-pound and twelve thirty- 
two-pound carronades ; the brig "Eagle," carrying eight long eighteens, 
and twelve thirty-two-pound carronades; schooner "Ticonderoga," with 
eight long twelve-pounders, four long eighteen-pounders, and five thirty- 
two-pound carronades; sloop "Preble," with seven long nines; and ten 
galleys. The commander who ruled over this fleet was a man still in his 
twenty-ninth year. The successful battles of the War of 18 12 were fought 
by young officers, and the battle of Lake Champlain was no exception to 
the rule. 

The British force which came into battle with Macdonough's fleet was 
slightly superior. It was headed by the flag-ship " Confiance," a frigate 
of the class of the United States ship " Constitution," carrying thirty 
long twenty-fours, a long twenty-four-pounder on a pivot, and six thirty- 
two or forty-two pound carronades. The other vessels were the " Linnet," 
a brig mounting sixteen long twelves ; and the " Chubb " and " Finch " (cap- 
tured from the Americans under the names of "Growler" and "Eagle"), — 
sloops carrying respectively ten eighteen-pound carronades and one long 
six ; and six eighteen-pound carronades, four long sixes, and one short 
eighteen. To these were added twelve gunboats, with varied armaments, 
but each slightly heavier than the American craft of the same class. 

The iith of September had been chosen by the British for the com- 
bined land and water attack upon Plattsburg. With the movements of 
the land forces, this narrative will not deal. The brunt of the conflict 
fell upon the naval forces, and it was the success of the Americans upon 
the water that turned the faces of the British invaders toward Canada. 

The village of Plattsburg stands upon the shore of a broad bay which 
communicates with Lake Champlain by an opening a mile and a half 
wide, bounded upon the north by Cumberland . Head, and on the south 
by Crab Island. In this bay, about two miles from the western shore, 
Macdonough's fleet lay anchored in double line, stretching north and 
south. The four large vessels were in the front rank, prepared to meet 
the brunt of the conflict ; while the galleys formed a second line in the 
rear. The morning of the day of battle dawned clear, with a brisk north- 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1 812. 457 

east wind blowing. The British were stirring early, and at daybreak 
weighed anchor and came down the lake. Across the low-lying isthmus 
that connected Cumberland Head with the mainland, the Americans 
could see their adversaries' top-masts as they came down to do battle. 
At this sight, Macdonough called his officers about him, and, kneeling 
upon the quarter-deck, besought Divine aid in the conflict so soon to 
come. When the little group rose from their knees, the leading ship of 
the enemy was seen swinging round Cumberland Head ; and the men 
went to their quarters to await the fiery trial that all knew was impending. 

The position of the American squadron was such that the British 
were forced to attack "bows on," thus exposing themselves to a raking 
fire. By means of springs on their cables, the Americans were enabled 
to keep their broadsides to the enemy, and thus improve, to the fullest, 
the advantage gained by their position. The British came on gallantly, 
and were greeted by four shots from the long eighteens of the " Eagle," 
that had no effect. But, at the sound of the cannon, a young game-cock 
that was running at large on the " Saratoga " flew upon a gun, flapped 
his wings, and crowed thrice, with so lusty a note that he was heard far 
over the waters. The American seamen, thus roused from the painful 
revery into which the bravest fall before going into action, cheered 
lustily, and went into the fight, encouraged as only sailors could be by 
the favorable omen. 

Soon after the defiant game-cock had thus cast down the gage of 
battle, Macdonough sighted and fired the first shot from one of the long 
twenty-four pounders of the " Saratoga." The heavy ball crashed into 
the bow of the "Confiancc," and cut its way aft, killing and wounding 
several men, and demolishing the wheel. Nothing daunted, the British 
flag-ship came on grandly, making no reply, and seeking only to cast 
anchor alongside the " Saratoga," and fight it out yard-arm to yard-arm. 
But the fire of the Americans was such that she could not choose her 
distance ; but after having been badly cut up, with both her port anchors 
shot away, was forced to anchor at a distance of a quarter of a mile. But 
her anchor had hardly touched bottom, when she suddenly flashed out a 
sheet of flames, as her rapid broadsides rung out and her red-hot shot 
sped over the water toward the American flag-ship. Ilcr first broadside 
killed or wounded forty of the Americans ; while many more were 



458 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



knocked down by the shock, but sustained no further injury. So great 
was the carnage, that the hatches were opened, and the dead bodies 
passed below, that the men might have room to work the guns. Among 
the slain was Mr. Gamble, the first lieutenant, who was on his knees 
sighting a gun, when a shot entered the port, split the quoin, drove a 
great piece of metal against his breast, and stretched him dead upon the 
deck without breaking his skin. By a singular coincidence, fifteen min- 
utes later a shot from one of the " Saratoga's " guns struck the muzzle 
of a twenty-four on the " Confiance," and, dismounting it, hurled it 
against Capt. Downie's groin, killing him instantly without breaking the 
skin ; a black mark about the size of a small plate was the sole visible 
injury. 

In the mean time, the smaller vessels had become engaged, and were 
fighting with no less courage than the flag-ships. The "Chubb" had 
early been disabled by a broadside from the " Eagle," and drifted help- 
lessly under the guns of the "Saratoga." After receiving a shot from 
that vessel, she struck, and was taken possession of by Midshipman 
Piatt, who put off from the flag-ship in an open boat, boarded the prize, 
and took her into Plattsburg Bay, near the mouth of the Saranac. More 
than half her people were killed or wounded during the short time she 
was in the battle. The " Linnet," in the mean time, had engaged the 
" Eagle," and poured in her broadsides with such effect that the springs 
on the cables of the American were cut away, and she could no longer 
bring her broadsides to bear. Her captain therefore cut his cables, and 
soon gained a position from which he could bring his guns to bear upon 
the " Confiance." The " Linnet " thereupon dashed in among the Ameri- 
can gunboats, and, driving them off, commenced a raking fire upon the 
"Saratoga." The "Finch," meanwhile, had ranged gallantly up along- 
side the " Ticonderoga," but was sent out of the fight by two broadsides 
from the American. She drifted helplessly before the wind, and soon 
grounded near Crab Island. On the island was a hospital, and an aban- 
doned battery mounting one six-pound gun. Some of the convalescent 
patients, seeing the enemy's vessel within range, opened fire upon her 
from the battery, and soon forced her to haul down her flag. Nearly 
half her crew were killed or wounded. Almost at the .same moment, the 
United States -.loop "Preble" was forced out of the fight by the British 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



459 



gunboats, that pressed so fiercely upon lier that she cut her cables and 
drifted inshore. 

The "Ticonderoga " fought a gallant fight throughout. After ridding 
herself of the " Finch," she had a number of the British gunboats to 
contend with ; and they pressed forward to the attack with a gallantry 
that showed them to be conscious of the fact, that, if this vessel could 
be carried, the American line would be turned, and the day won by the 
English. But the American schooner fought stubbornly. Her gallant 



m ft y/c 




HIRAM PAULDING FIRES THE GUNS. 



commander, Lieut. Cassin, walked up and down the taffrail, heedless of 
the grape and musket-balls that whistled past his head, pointing out 
to the gunners the spot whereon to train the guns, and directing them 
to load with canister and bags of bullets when the enemy came too 
near. The gunners of the schooner were terribly hampered in their 
work by the lack of matches for the guns ; for the vessel was new, and the 
absence of these very essential articles was unnoticed until too late. The 
guns of one division were fired throughout the fight by Hiram Paulding, 



460 BLUE-JACKETS OF 181 2. 

a sixteen-year-old midshipman, who flashed his pistol at the priming of the 
guns as soon as aim was taken. When no gun was ready for his services, 
he rammed a ball into his weapon and discharged it at the enemy. The 
onslaught of the British was spirited and determined. Often they pressed 
up within a boat-hook's length of the schooner, only to be beaten back by 
her merciless fire. Sometimes so few were left alive in the galleys that 
they could hardly man the oars to pull out of the fight. In this way the 
" Ticonderoga " kept her enemies at bay while the battle was being decided 
between the "Saratoga" and the "Confiance." 

For it was upon the issue of the conflict between these two ships, 
that victory or defeat depended. Each had her ally and satellite. Under 
the stern of the "Saratoga" lay the "Linnet," pouring in raking broad- 
sides. "The "Confiance," in turn, was suffering from the well-directed 
fire of the " Eagle." The roar of the artillery was unceasing, and dense 
clouds of gunpowder-smoke hid the warring ships from the eyes of the 
eager spectators on shore. The " Confiance " was unfortunate in losing 
her gallant captain early in the action, while Macdonough was spared 
to fight his ship to the end. His gallantry and activity, however, led 
him to expose himself fearlessly ; and twice he narrowly escaped death. 
He worked like a common sailor, loading and firing a favorite twenty- 
four-pound gun ; and once, while on his knees, sighting the piece, a shot 
from the " Confiance " cut in two the spanker-boom, a great piece of which 
fell heavily upon the captain's head, stretching him senseless upon the 
deck. He lay motionless for two or three minutes, and his men mourned 
him as dead ; but suddenly his activity returned, and he leaped to his 
feet, and was soon again in the thick of the fight. In less than five 
minutes the cry again arose, that the captain was killed. He had been 
standing at the breach of his favorite cannon, when a round shot took 
off the head of the captain of the gun, and dashed it with terrific force 
into the face of Macdonough, who was driven across the deck, and hurled 
against the bulwarks. He lay an instant, covered with the blood of the 
slain man ; but, hearing his men cry that he was killed, he rushed among 
them, to cheer them on with his presence. 

And, indeed, at this moment the crew of the " Saratoga " needed the 
presence of their captain to cheer them on to further exertion. The red- 
hot shot of the " Confiance " had twice set fire to the American ship. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 4^1 

The raking fire from the " Linnet " had dismounted carronades and long 
guns one by one, until but a single serviceable gun was left in the star- 
board battery. A too heavy charge dismounted this piece, and threw it 
down the hatchway, leaving the frigate without a single gun bearing upon 
the enemy. In such a plight the hearts of the crew might well fail them. 
But Macdonough was ready for the emergency. He still had his pon 
broadside untouched, and he at once set to work to swing the ship round 
so that this battery could be brought to bear. An anchor was let fall 
astern, and the whole ship's company hauled in on the hawser, swinging 
the ship slowly around. It was a dangerous manoeuvre; for, as the ship 
veered round, her stern was presented to the " Linnet," affording an 
opportunity for raking, which the gunners on that plucky little vessel 
immediately improved. But patience and hard pulling carried the day ; 
and gradually the heavy frigate was turned sufficiently for the after gun 
to bear, and a gun's crew was at once called from the hawsers to open 
fire. One by one the guns swung into position, and soon the whole 
broadside opened with a roar. 

Meanwhile the " Confiance " had attempted the same manoeuvre. Bui 
her anchors were badly placed ; and, though her people worked gallantly, 
they failed to get the ship round. She bore for some time the effective 
fire from the " Saratoga's " fresh broadside, but, finding that she could 
in no way return the fire, struck her flag, two hours and a quarter after 
tlie battle commenced. Beyond giving a hasty cheer, the people of the 
" Saratoga " paid little attention to the surrender of their chief enemy, 
but instantly turned their guns upon the " Linnet." In this combat the 
" Eagle " could take no part, and the thunder of her guns died away. 
I'arther down the bay, the " Ticonderoga " had just driven away the last 
of the British galleys; so that the "Linnet" now alone upheld the cause ot 
the enemy. She was terribly outmatched by her heavier foe, but hci 
gallant captain Bring kept up a desperate defence. Her masts and riggin ■, 
were hopelessly shattered ; and no course was open to her, save to sur- 
render, or fight a hopeless fight. Capt. Bring sent off a lieutenant, in an 
open boat, to ascertain the condition of the "Confiance." The officer 
returned with the report that Capt. Downie was killed, and the frigate 
terribly cut up ; and as by this time the water, pouring in the shot-holes 
in the "Linnet's" hull, had risen a foot above the lower deck, her flag 



462 BLUE-JACKETS OF 181 2. 

was hauled clown, and the battle ended in a decisive triumph for the 
Americans. 

Terrible was the carnage, and many and strange the incidents, of this 
most stubbornly contested naval battle. All of the prizes were in a sinking 
condition. In the hull of the "Confiancc" were a hundred and five shot- 
holes, while the " Saratoga " was pierced by fifty-five. Not a mast that 
would bear canvas was left standing in the British fleet ; those of the 
fliag-ship were splintered like bundles of matches, and the sails torn to 
rags. On most of the enemy's vessels, more than half of the crews were 
killed or wounded. The loss on the British side probably aggregated 
three hundred. Midshipman William Lee of the " Confiance " wrote home 
after the battle, " The havoc on both sides was dreadful. I don't think 
there are more than five of our men, out of three hundred, but what are 
killed or wounded. Never was a shower of hail so thick as the shot 
whistling about our ears. Were you to see my jacket, waistcoat, and 
trousers, you would be astonished to know how I escaped as I did ; for 
they arc literally torn all to rags with shot and splinters. The upper part 
of my hat was also shot away. There is one of the marines who was in 
the Trafalgar action with Lord Nelson, who says it was a mere flea-bite 
in comparison with this." 

The Americans, though victorious, had suffered greatly. Their loss 
amounted to about two hundred men. The "Saratoga" had been cut up 
beyonil the possibility of repair. Her decks were covered with dead and 
dying. The shot of the enemy wrought terrible havoc in the ranks of 
the American officers. Lieut. Stan.sbvu-y of the " Ticonderoga " suddenly 
disappeared in the midst of the action ; nor could any trace of him be 
found, until, two days later, his body, cut nearly in two by a round shot, 
rose from the waters of the lake. Lieut. Vallette of the " Saratoga " was 
knocked down by the head of a sailor, sent flying by a cannon-ball. Some 
minutes later he was standing on a shot-bo.x giving orders, when a shot 
took the box from beneath his feet, throwing him heavily upon the deck. 
Mr. Brum, the master, a veteran man-o'-war's man, was struck by a huge 
splinter, which knocked him down, and actually stripped every rag of 
clothing from his body. He was thought to be dead, but soon re-appeared 
at his post, with a stri[) of canvas about his waist, and fought bravely 
until the end of the action. Some days before the battle, a gentleman 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 463 

of Oswego gave one of the sailors a glazed tarpaulin hat, of the kind then 
worn by seamen. A week later the sailor re-appcared, and, handing 
him the hat with a semi-circular cut in the crown and brim, made while 
it was on his head by a cannon-shot, remarked calmly, " Look here, Mr 
Sloane, how the damned John Bulls have spoiled my hat ! " 

The last British flag having been hauled down, an officer was sent to 
take possession of the "Confiance." In walking along her gun-deck, he 
accidentally ran against a ratline, by which one of her starboard guns was 
discharged. At this sound, the British galleys and gunboats, which had 
been lying quietly with their ensigns down, got out oars and moved off 
up the lake. The Americans had no vessels fit for pursuing them, and 
they were allowed to escape. In the afternoon the British officers came 
to the American flag-ship to complete the surrender. Macdonough met 
them courteously ; and, on their offering their swords, put them back, 
saying, "Gentlemen, your gallant conduct makes you worthy to wear your 
weapons. Return them to their scabbards." By sundown the surrender 
was complete, and Macdonough sent off to the Secretary of the Navy a 
despatch, saying, "Sir, — The Almighty has been pleased to grant us a 
signal victory on Lake Champlain, in the capture of one frigate, one brig, 
and two sloops-of-war of the enemy." 

Some days later, the captured ships, being beyond repair, were taken 
to the head of the lake, and scuttled. Some of the guns were found to 
be still loaded ; and, in drawing the charges, one gun was found with a 
canvas bag containing two round shot rammed home, and wadded, without 
any powder ; another gun contained two cartridges and no shot ; and a 
third had a wad rammed down before the powder, thus effectually prevent- 
'ng the discharge of the piece. The American gunners were not altogether 
guiltless of carelessness of this sort. Their chief error lay in ramming 
down so many shot upon the powder that the force of the explosion 
barely carried the missiles to the enemy. In proof of this, the side of 
the "Confiance" was thickly dotted with round shot, which had struck 
into, but failed to penetrate, the wood. 

The result of this victory was immediate and gratifying. The land 
forces of the British, thus deprived of their naval au.\iliaries, turned about, 
and retreated to Canada, abandoning forever their projected invasion. 
New York was thus saved by Macdonough's skill and bravery. Yet the 



464 BLUE-JACKETS OF 181 2. 

fame he won by his victory was not nearly proportionate to the naval 
ability he showed, and the service he had rendered to his country. Before 
the popular adulation of Perry, Macdonough sinks into second place. One 
historian only gives him the pre-eminence that is undoubtedly his due. 
Says Mr. Theodore Roosevelt, in his admirable history, "The Naval War 
of 1 81 2," "But Macdonough in this battle won a higher fame than any 
other commander of the war, British or American. He had a decidedly 
superior force to contend against, and it was solely owing to his foresight 
and resource that we won the victory. He forced the British to engage 
at a disadvantage by his excellent choice of position, and he prepared 
beforehand for every possible contingency. His personal prowess had 
already been shown at the cost of the rovers of Tripoli, and in this action 
he helped fight the guns as ably as the best sailor. His skill, seaman- 
ship, quick eye, readiness of resource, and indomitable pluck are beyond 
all praise. Down to the time of the civil war, he is the greatest figure 
in our naval history. A thoroughly religious man, he was as generous 
and humane as he was skilful and brave. One of the greatest of our 
2a captains, he has left a stainless name behind him." 




CHAPTER XIV. 



ON THE OCEAN. — THE WORK OF THE SLOOPS-OF- WAR. — LOSS OF THE " FROLIC."— FKUi.- 
LESS CRUISE OF THE " ADAMS." — THE " PEACOCK" TAKES THE " EPERVIER." — THE CRUISE 
OF THE "WASP."— SHE CAPTURES THE "REINDEER." — SINKS THE " AVON." — MYSTERIOUS 
END OF THE ■' WASP." 




HE opening of the year 1814 found the American coast still 
rigidly blockaded by the liritish men-of-war. Two or three of 
the enemy lay off the mouth of every considerable harbor, and 
were not to be driven from their post by the icy winds and storms 
of midwinter on the American coast. It was almost impossible for any 
American vessel to escape to sea, and a matter of almost equal difficulty 
for such vessels as were out to get into a home port. The frigate " Presi- 
dent " had put to sea early in December, 1813, and after a cruise of 
eight weeks, during which the traditional ill-luck of the ship pursued her 
■emorselessly, managed to dash into New York Harbor past the blockading 
squadron. At Boston the blockade was broken by the " Constitution." 
She left port on the ist of January, ran off to the southward, and cruised 
17 465 



466 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

for some weeks in the West Indies. Here she captured the British man- 
of-war schooner " Pictou," fourteen guns, and several merchant-vessels. 
She also fell in with the British thirty-six-gun frigate "Pique," which fled, 
and escaped pursuit by cutting through a narrow channel during a dark and 
squally night. The " Constitution " then returned to the coast of the 
United States, and narrowly escaped falling into the clutches of two British 
frigates. She managed to gain the shelter of Marblehead Harbor, and 
there remained until the latter part of the year. 

But, while the larger vessels were thus accomplishing little or nothing, 
two or three small sloops-of-war, of a class newly built, slipped through the 
enemy's lines, and, gaining the open sea, fought one or two notable actions. 
Of these, the first vessel to get to sea was the new sloop-of-war "Frolic;" 
but her career was short and inglorious, for she had been at sea but a 
few weeks when she fell in with the enemy's frigate " Orpheus " and the 
schooner "Shelburne." A chase ensued, in which the American vessel 
threw overboard her guns and anchors, and started the water ; but to no 
avail, for she was overhauled, and forced to surrender. Her service afloai 
was limited to the destruction of a Carthagenian privateer, which sunk 
before her guns, carrying down nearly a hundred men. 

The "Adams," a vessel that had suffered many vicissitudes, — having 
been built for a frigate, then cut down to a sloop-of-war, and finally been 
sawed asunder and converted into a corvette, — put to sea on the i8th 
of January, under the command of Capt. Charles Morris, formerly of the 
" Constitution." She laid her course straight to the eastward, and for 
some time cruised off the western coast of Africa and the Canary Isles. 
She met with but little success in this region, capturing only three brigs, 
. — the cargo of one of which consisted of wine and fruit; and the second, 
of palm-oil and ivory. Abandoning the African coast, the corvette turned 
westward along the equator, and made for the West Indies. A large 
Indiaman fell in her way, and was brought to ; but, before the Americans 
could take possession of their prize, a British fleet of twenty-five sail, with 
two men-of-war, hove in sight, and the "Adams" was forced to seek 
safety in flight. She put into Savannah for provisions and water, but, 
hearing that the enemy was in force near by, worked out to sea, and 
made sail for another cruise. Capt. Morris took up a position on the 
limits of the Gulf Stream, near the Florida coast, in the expectation of 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1 812. 467 

cutting out an Incliaman from some passing convoy. The expected fleet 
soon came, but was under tlic protection of a seventy-four, two frigates, 
and three brigs, — a force sufficient to keep at bay the most audacious of 
corvettes. Morris hung about the convoy for two days, but saw no chance 
of eluding the watchful guards. He then crossed the Atlantic to the 
coast of Ireland. Here the "Adams" narrowly escaped capture; for she 
was sighted by a frigate, which gave chase, and would have overhauled 
her, had not the Americans thrown overboard some small cannon, and 
cut away their anchors. Thus lightened, the corvette sped away, and soon 
left her pursuers behind. 

Continued ill-fortune now reduced the spirits of the sailors of the 
"Adams" to very low ebb. They were forced to struggle unceasingly 
against the fierce gales which in winter sweep the Atlantic. Their stock 
of food and water was giving out ; and, to add to their distress, scurvy, 
the sailors' worst enemy, began to show itself in the ship. They had 
')Idly run into the very waters in which the "Argus" had won so rich a 
.'■jvvard, yet not a sail gladdened the eyes of the lookout on the " Adams.' 
It was then with great disappointment that the jackies saw the prow of 
the corvette turned homeward, after a cruise that would bring them neither 
honor nor prize-money. The passage homeward was quickly made, and 
on the i6th of August the vessel was in soundings off the coast of Maine. 
Xight fell, with a dense fog concealing all landmarks from view. Through 
tiie darkness the corvette sped on at a pace of eleven miles an hour, 
until, just as day was breaking, the cry of "Breakers ahead!" was followed 
by a heavy blow, indicating that the ship had struck. The force of the 
blow had not been sufficient to stave in the bottom, — a fortunate fact, for 
the hold was full of prisoners. Nevertheless, she was hard and fast aground, 
on a ledge of rock that lifted her bow six feet above her stern. Morris, 
who had rushed upon deck at the first alarm, was unable to make out 
the ship's position, and feared that they were on Cashes Ledge, a reef so 
far from the land that it would have been impossible to save in the boats 
more than half the crew. He had determined, however, to instantly lower 
the boats and send them off in search of land, when a gust of wind, 
blowing away the fog, showed a beetling cliff not a hundred yards away. 
Rugged find inhospitable as was the coast thus exposed, it was better 
than an cxi)anse of ocean ; and at once Morris set to work landing his 



468 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

prisoners, and the sick, of whom the " Adams " had nearly sixty. With 
spare sails, tents were put up on the beach ; and, stores having been landed, 
the comfort of all was assured, in case the ship should go to pieces. 
What the desolate shore was to which they were thus forced to turn for 
shelter, no one knew. 

All hands now turned to at the capstan, in the hopes of getting the 
v<;ssel off ; and about noon, the tide having reached its flood, she gradually 
slid off the ledge into deep water. After trying the pumps, to see if 
any serious leak had been started, the difficult task of taking the ship 
out of the labyrinth of reefs in which she lay was begun. For more than 
two miles their course lay through a narrow and tortuous channel, bordered 
on either side with jagged reefs ; but the corvette safely threaded her 
way between the rocks, and soon lay floating in deep water. The next 
morning the fog blew away ; and the voyagers discovered to their aston- 
ishment that they were off Mount Desert, instead of near Portsmouth as 
they had expected. 

To return into the cluster of reefs after the little colony of invalids 
and prisoners that had been left behind, would have been mere folly : so 
sending two fishing-boats to search out the shore party, and carry them 
to the nearest village, the "Adams" continued her course, intending to 
put into the Penobscot River. While making for this point, a sail was 
sighted, which proved to be the British brig-sloop " Rifleman." The 
corvette gave chase, but the Englishman kept well in the offing; and, as 
the condition of the American crew was such that to lead them into 
action would have been imprudent, Morris abandoned the pursuit, and, 
putting into the Penobscot, dropped anchor off Hampden. Here, for the 
present, we will leave the "Adams." 

The "Peacock" — a second of the new sloops-of-war, bearing the name 
(if a captured British vessel — put out from New York in March, and 
made her way to the southward, selecting as her cruising station the 
waters off the coast of Florida. For some time it seemed that the exer- 
tions of the sailors were to be of no avail. Not a sail was to be seen, 
and the chances for prize-money seemed to be small indeed. But on the 
2gth of March three merchant-vessels were made out in the offing ; while 
a heavy-built, square-rigged, trim-looking craft that hovered about them 
was evidently a man-of-war. The strangers seemed to have sighted the 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 4^9 

American vessel ; for the merchantmen were seen to hastily haul up and 
run off to the north-east, while the man-of-war edged away for the 
American ship. 

The stranger was His British Majesty's brig sloop-of-war " Epervier," 
of eighteen guns, and carrying a crew of one hundred and twenty-eight 
men. The "Peacock" was a ship-sloop of twenty-two guns, with a crew 
of one hundred and si.xty-si.x men. The advantage, therefore, lay with 
the Americans ; but, in the battle that ensued, the damage they inflicted 
upon the enemy was out of any proportion to their excess of strength. 

The two ships bore down gallantly upon each other, and at a little 
after ten in the morning passed, e.xchanging heavy broadsides. The shot 
of each took effect in the rigging ; but the " Peacock " suffered the 
more, having her foreyard totally disabled, — an injury that compelled 
her to run large during the rest of the action, and forego all attempts 
at manoeuvring. The two vessels having passed each other, the "Epervier" 
eased off, and returned to the fight, running on a parallel course with 
the American ship. The interchange of broadsides then became very 
rapid ; but the British marksmanship was poor, and few of their shot 
took effect. The " Epervier," on the contrary, suffered severely from the 
American fire, which took effect in her hull, dismounting several guns, 
and so injuring the brig that a British naval officer, writing of the action 
some years later, said, "The most disgraceful part of the affair was that 
our ship was cut to pieces, and the enemy hardly scratched." 

The injury aloft which both vessels sustained caused the battle to 
take on the character of an action at long range. Under such conditions, 
the victory was assured to the side showing the best gunnery. For a 
moment only did it seem that the vessels were likely to come to close 
quarters, and the English captain seized that occasion to call up his 
boarders. But they refused, saying, "She's too heavy for us." And a 
few minutes later the Englishman hauled down his flag, having lost nine 
killed or mortally wounded, and fourteen wounded. The Americans had 
suffered but little; only two men being injured, and these but slightly. 
The shot of the enemy had passed through the rigging of the "Pea- 
cock," while the "Epervier" had been hulled forty-five times. 

The " Epervier " proved to be a valuable prize. In her hold specie 
to the amount of one hundred and eighteen thousand dollars was found; 



470 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

and, when the brig was sold to the United States Government, she brou^h": 
fifty-five thousand dollars : so that the prize-money won by that action 
kept the sailors in good-humor for many months to come. But, before 
the prize could be safely carried into an American port, she had a gantlet 
to run, in which she narrowly escaped capture. After the wreck of battle 
had been cleared away, the brig and her captor made for Savannah, but 
were sighted and chased by two British frigates. The " Peacock," in the 
hope of drawing away the pursuers, left her prize, and headed out to sea. 
One frigate only followed her, and the other pressed on hotly after the 
"Epervier," which, to avoid capture, was forced to run into shallow 
water, whither the heavy frigate could not follow her. But she was 
not to escape so easily ; for the boats of the frigate were lowered, filled 
with armed men, and set out in pursuit of the brig, which moved but 
slowly before the light breeze then blowing. The boats soon overhauled 
the fugitive, and escape seemed hopeless ; for the " Epervier " was manned 
by a prize-crew of only sixteen men. But Lieut. Nicholson, who was in 
.'ommand, determined to try the effect of bluster. Accordingly he leaped 
upon the taffrail, with a speaking-trumpet in his hand, and shouted out 
orders as if calling a huge crew to quarters. The British, who were 
within easy range, stopped their advance, and, fearing a destructive broad- 
side from the brig's guns, turned and fled precipitately. The " Epervier " 
continued her course, and reached Savannah in safety on the ist of May. 
The "Peacock" reached the same port four days later. 

At the moment when the captured " Epervier," flying the stars and 
stripes, was proudly making her way up the harbor of Savannah amid 
the plaudits of the people of the little city, there sailed from Portsmouth, 
N.H., a vessel that was destined to fight a good fight for the honor of 
;hat starry banner ; and, after winning a glorious victory, to disappear 
orever from the face of the ocean, carrying to some unknown grave a 
.rew of as brave hearts as ever beat under uniforms of navy blue. 

This was the new sloop of war "Wasp," named after the gallant little 
craft that had been taken by the British after her capture of the "Frolic." 
She was a stanch three-master, carrying eleven guns to a broadside. Her 
crew was purely American, not a foreigner among them ; but all trained 
seamen from the seaboard villages and towns of New England, — the homes 
at that time of probably the hardiest seafaring population in the world 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 4/1 



Capt. Blakely, who commanded the vessel, had been attached to the 
" Enterprise " for some time, but had been ordered to the command of 
the "Wasp" a few days before the former vessel fought her successful 
battle with the "Boxer." Blakely, while in command of the "Enterprise," 
bad greatly desired to meet an enemy worthy of his metal. Great, then, 
was his chagrin, when the " Enterprise," two weeks after he quitted her, 
♦ought her gallant battle. In a letter written in January, 1814, he says, 
" I shall ever view as one of the most unfortunate events of my life having 
quitted the 'Enterprise' at the moment I did. Had I remained in her a 
fortnight longer, my name might have been classed with those who stand 
so high. I cannot but consider it a mortifying circumstance that I left her 
but a few days before she fell in with the only enemy upon this station with 
which she could have creditably contended. I confess I felt heartily glad 
when I received my order to take command of the 'Wasp,' conceiving that 
there was no hope of doing any thing in the ' Enterprise.' But when I 
heard of the contest of the latter ship, and witnessed the great delay in 
the equipment of the former, I had no cause to congratulate myself. The 
' Peacock ' has ere this spread her plumage to the winds, and the ' Frolic ' 
will soon take her revels on the ocean ; but the ' Wasp ' will, I fear, remain 
for some time a dull, harmless drone in the waters of her country." 

Notwithstanding his impatience, Blakely was forced to endure the 
restraints of Portsmouth navy-yard for nearly three months, while the 
" Wasp " was fitting out ; but when she did finally get to sea, on May i, 
1814, she proved herself to be far from a "dull, harmless drone." Slipping 
unobserved through the British blockading line, the "Wasp" made straight 
for the European coast before a fresh wind, and was soon cruising in the 
chops of the English channel, where the "Argus" had won her laurels 
and met with her defeat. Many English merchantmen were captured and 
burned, and the terror that spread in English shipping circles recalled the 
days of the "Argus." 

At daylight on the 28th of June, the " Wasp " sighted two merchantmen, 
and straightway gave chase. Soon a third vessel was discovered on the 
weather-beam ; and, abandoning the vessels first sighted, the American 
bore down upon the stranger. She proved to be the " Reindeer," a 
British brig-sloop of eighteen guns, carrying a crew of one hundred and 
eighteen men. Although the British vessel was by no means a match 



472 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

in weight of metal for the "Wasp," her captain, William Manners, brought 
her into action with a cool gallantry which well justified his reputation as 
one of the bravest men in the British navy. 

At ten o'clock in the morning the ships were near enough to each 
other to exchange signals, but several hours were spent in manoeuvring for 
the weather-gage; so that it was not until after three in the afternoon that 
the action fairly opened. The day was admirably suitable for a naval 
battle. Light clouds floated across the sky, and the gentle breeze that 
was blowing had sufficient strength to propel the ships without careening 
them. The surface of the ocean was unusually calm for that quarter, in 
which a rather choppy sea is usually running. Before the light breeze the 
" Wasp " came down upon her foe, bows on, with her decks cleared for 
action, and the men at their quarters. On the top-gallant forecastle of 
the " Reindeer " was mounted a twelve-pound carronade, and the action 
was opened by the discharge of this piece. In the position she then held, 
the "Wasp" was unable to reply; and her crew had to bear five effective 
.->hots from this gun without being able to fire a shot in return, — an ordeal 
that less well-disciplined crews might not have endured. For nine minutes 
the Americans returned not a shot ; but then the "Wasp " luffed up, firing 
the guns from aft forward as they bore. The two ships were now lying 
broadside to broadside, not twenty yards apart, and every shot told. Fc>r 
ten minutes this position was held, and the two crews worked like Furies in 
loading and firing the great guns. The roar of the cannon was incessant, 
and the recoil of the heavy explosions deadened what little way the ships 
had on when fire was opened. Capt. Manners was too old an officer not 
to know, that, in an artillery duel of that kind, the victory would surely 
rest with the side that carried the heaviest guns : so he ran his vessel aboard 
the "Wasp" on the starboard quarter, intending to board and carry the 
the day with the stubborn, dashing gallantry shown by British seamen when 
once led to an enemy's deck. At the ringing notes of the bugle, calling 
up the boarders, the British gathered aft, their faces begrimed with jun- 
powder, their arms bare, and their keen cutlasses firmly clutched in their 
strong right hands. The Americans took the alarm at once, and crowded 
forward to repel the enemy. The marines, whose hard duty it is in long- 
range fighting to stand with military impassiveness, drawn up in line on 
deck, while the shot whistle by them, and now and then cut great gaps in 



BLUE-JACKETS OF iS/2. 



473 



their straight Hnes, — the marines came aft, with their muskets loaded and 
bayonets fixed. Before them were sailors with sharp-pointed boarding- 
]Mkes, ready to receive the enemy should he come aboard ; while close under 
the bulwarks were grouped the boarders, ready with cutlass and pistol to beat 
back the flood of men that should come pouring over the side. The grating 
ot the ships' sides told that the vessels were touching ; and the next instant 







THE CAPTAIN OF THE "REINDEER." 

the burly British seamen, looming up like giants, as they dashed through the 
dense murkiness of the powder-smoke, were among the Americans, cutting 
and firing right and left. From the deck of the "Reindeer" the marines 
kept up a constant fire of musketry, to which the sea-soldiers of the 
"Wasp" responded vigorously. Marksmen posted in the tops of each vessel 
picked off men from their enemy's decks, choosing generally the officers. 



474 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



Sharp and bloody though the British attack was, the boarders could 
make no way against the stubborn stand of the Americans. Capt. 
Manners, seeing his men beaten back, sprang forward to rally them. He 
was desperately wounded. A gun-shot had passed through his thig.hs, and a 
grape-shot had cut across the calves of his legs ; but, maimed and bleeding 
to death as he was, he leaped into the rigging, and, cheering and waving his 
sword, called to his men to follow him to the decks of the Yankee. The 
Britons rallied nobly under the encouragement of their brave captain, and 
again advanced to the assault. But the figure of the daring officer, as he 
stood thus before his men, waving his sword and calling on them to come 
on, caught the eye of one of the men in the "Wasp's" main-top; and the 
next instant a ball crashed into the captain's brain, and he fell heavily to 
the deck, with his dying eyes turned upwards toward the flag in whose 
service he had given his life. 

Seeing the British captain fall and the men waver, Capt. Blakely 
with a cheer called up the boarders of the " Wasp ; " and in an instant a 
stream of shouting sailors, cutlass in hand, was pouring over the hammock- 
nettings, and driving the foe backward on his own decks. The British 
still fought stubbornly ; but their numbers were terribly thinned, and their 
officers had fallen one by one, until now the captain's clerk was the highest 
officer left. Seeing his men falling back before the resistless torrent of 
boarders, this gentleman finally struck the flag; and the battle ended, twenty- 
seven minutes after the "Reindeer" had fired the opening gun, and eighteen 
after the "Wasp " had responded. 

The execution and damage done on the " Reindeer " by the " Wasp's " 
shot were appalling. Of her crew of one hundred and eighteen men, thirty- 
three were killed or fatally wounded, and thirty-four were wounded. The 
havoc wrought among her officers has already been mentioned. Evidence 
of the accuracy and skill of the American gunners was to be seen in the 
tact that the brig was completely cut to pieces in the line of her ports. 
Her decks were swept clean of boats, spars, and rigging. Her masts 
were badly shattered, and her fore-mast soon went by the board. The 
" Wasp " had suffered severely, but was in much better condition than 
her captured adversary. Eleven of her crew were killed or mortally 
wounded, and fifteen were wounded severely or slightly. She had been 
hulled by six round and many grape shot, and her fore-mast had 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



475 



been cut by a tvventy-four-pound shot. A few hours' work cleared from 
her decks all trace of the bloody fight, and she was in condition for 
another action. But it would have been folly to try to get the crippled 
" Reindeer " to port from that region, swarming with British cruisers : so 
Capt. Blakely took the prisoners on the "Wasp," put a few of the 
wounded on a neutral vessel that happened to pass, and, burning the 




THE END OF THE "REINDEER." 



prize, made his way to the harbor of L'Orient. He had fought a brave 
fight, and come out victor after a desperate contest. But, though defeated, 
the plucky British might well boast of the gallant manner in which they 
engaged an enemy so much their superior in strength. History nowhere 
records a more gallant death than that of the British captain, who fell 
leading his men in a dashing but vain attempt to retrieve the day by 
boarding. In its manoeuvring, in the courage and discipline of the crews, 
and in the gallantry of the two captains, the action of the " Wasp " and 
ihe "Reindeer" may well go down to history as a model naval duel of the 
age of sails. 



476 BLUE-JACKETS OP 1812. 

The "Wasp" remained in port for several weeks, occupying the time 
in refitting, and filling the gaps in her crew by enlistment from the 
American privateers which then were to be seen occasionally in every 
port of the world. She then put out to sea, and soon fell in with a 
convoy of ten British merchantmen, under the protection of the seventy- 
four "Armada." Though he had no intention of giving battle to the 
line-of-battle ship, Blakely determined to capture one of the merchant- 
men ; and to this end the " Wasp " hung upon the skirts of the convoy, 
making rapid dashes now at one vessel, then at another, and keeping the 
seventy-four in constant an.xiety. Finally the swift little cruiser actually 
succeeded in capturing one of the vessels, and escaping before the heavy 
seventy-four could get to the scene of the conflict. The prize proved to 
be a valuable one, for she was laden with iron and brass cannon and 
military stores. 

Towards nightfall of the same day, Sept. i, 18 14, four more sail were 
sighted ; and the " Wasp " at once made off in chase of the most weatherly. 
;\t eight o'clock the "Wasp" had gained so rapidly upon the chase, that 
the latter began firing with her stern chaser, and soon after opened with 
one of her lee guns. All the time the enemy kept up a vigorous sig- 
nalling with rockets, lanterns, and guns. By half-past nine the "Wasp" 
was within hailing-distance, and an officer posted on the bow hailed the 
stranger several times ; but as she returned no satisfactory answer, and 
refused to heave to, the " Wasp " opened upon her with a twelve-pound 
carronade, and soon after poured a broadside into her quarter. The two 
ships ploughed through the black water, under full sail, side by side. 
The Americans had no idea of the identity of their assailant, but, by the 
flashes of the guns, could see that she was a heavy brig. Her ports 
gleamed brightly with battle-lanterns ; and the crowds of sailors in the 
tops, and the regularity of her fire, showed that she was a man-of-war 
with a well-disciplined crew, and no mere marauding privateer. For a 
time this running fight continued at such short range that the only 
American injured was struck by a wad from the enemy's cannon. The 
British gunners were poor marksmen, and the "Wasp" suffered but little; 
but it was evident that the American fire was taking effect, for gun 
\fter gun on the enemy was silenced. At ten o'clock the Americans, 
receiving no response to their carronade, stopped firing ; and Capt. Blakely, 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



seizing a speaking-trumpet, shouted across the water, " Have you struck ? " 
No answer came, and the enemy began a feeble fire. The " Wasp " let 
fly another broadside, and Blakely repeated the question. This time an 
affirmative response came through the darkness ; and the " Wasp " stopped 
firing, and made preparations to take possession of her prize. Just as 
the boat was being lowered from the davits, the lookout's cry of " Sail, 
ho ! " checked the proceedings. Through the black night a cloud of 
canvas could be seen far astern, denoting the presence of another ship, 
probably an enemy. The drums of the " Wasp " beat fiercely ; and the 
men trooped back to their quarters, ready for a second battle. But in 
the mean time two more sail hove in sight, and there remained to the 
"Wasp" nothing but flight. She accordingly made off into the darkness, 
receiving one broadside from one of the newly arrived men-of-war as she 
departed. So suddenly was she forced to fly, that she was unable to 
learn the name and condition of the vessel she had forced to surrender. 

It became known in the United States later that the " Wasp's " 
adversary in the battle in the darkness was the British sloop-of-war 
■'Avon," of eighteen guns. She was badly cut up by the fire of the 
American gunners, losing her main-mast early in the action. At the 
time she surrendered, she was in a sinking condition ; and, had it not 
been for the timely arrival of the brig-sloop " Castilian " and the " Tar- 
tarus," both British, the crew of the " Avon " would have been prisoners 
on the "Wasp," or carried to the bottom in the shattered hulk of their 
own ship. The loss on the "Avon ' was ten killed and thirty-two wounded, 
while on the " Wasp " but three men were injured. 

Of all this the gallant Capt. Blakely was ignorant ; and, indeed, it is 
probable that he never knew with whom he had fought his last battle. 
For the subsequent history of the "Wasp" is more tragic in its unfathom- 
able mystery than is the fate of the bravest ship ever sent to the bottom 
by the broadsides of an enemy. What was the end of the "Wasp," and 
where her bones now lie, no one knows. For some little time after her 
battle with the "Avon," her movements can be traced. Sept. 12, she 
captured the British brig "Three Brothers," and scuttled her; two days 
later, the brig "Bacchus" met the same fate at her hands. Sept. 21, she 
took the brig " Atlanta," eight guns ; and, this being a valuable prize, 
Midshipman Geisinger of the "Wasp" was put on board, and took her 



47''^ BLUE-JACKETS OF i8iz. 

safely to Savannah. He brought the last news that was heard of the ill- 
fated cruiser for many years. Months passed, and lengthened into years ; 
and still the "Wasp" came not into port, nor could any trace of her 
whereabouts be found. As time passed on, the attempts to account for 
her delay changed into theories as to the cause of her total disappearance. 
All sorts of rumors were afloat. According to one account, the ship was 
wrecked on the African coast, and her gallant lads were ending their weary 
lives as slaves to the turbaned Moors of Barbary. Another theory was 
based on the rumor that an English frigate went into Cadiz much crippled, 
and with her crew severely injured, and reported that she had been engaged 
with a heavy American corvette, which had so suddenly disappeared that 
she was thought to have sunk with all on board. But, as time passed on, 
the end of the " Wasp " was forgotten by all save a few whose hearts 
ached for some of the gallant lads thus blotted from the face of the earth. 

Years after, the fate of the daring cruiser was again brought into 
remembrance by fresh news curiously found. When the officers and crew 
of the "Esse.x," after that vessel's gallant battle with the "Phoebe" and 
"Cherub," were sent to the United States under parole, two officers 
remained at Valparaiso, to give testimony before the prize-court. These 
gentlemen were Lieut. McKnight, and Mr. Lyman a master's mate. After 
going to Brazil in the " Phoebe," the two officers took passage in a Swedish 
brig bound for England. Months passed ; and, nothing being heard from 
them, their friends became alarmed for their safety. In that time, before 
the day of the telegraph and steam transportation, many things might 
have easily detained the two officers for a year or more, and nothing 
be heard of them. But, when two years had passed, inquiries began to be 
made as to their fate, both by their friends and the naval authorities 
The first step was to find the vessel upon which they had left Brazil. 
This was a work of time ; so that it was many years after the disappear- 
ance of the officers when the brig was found lying at a London dock. 
Shq was the brig " Adonis," and the master proved to be the same who 
had commanded her when the two officers had taken passage. He readily 
recalled the circumstance, but claimed that the two passengers had left 
him in mid-ocean to go aboard an American man-of-war ; and in proof of 
this he brought out the log-book, and, turning back to the year 1814, 
pointed out the following entries: — 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1 812. 479 

"Aug. 23. — Left Rio de Janeiro; Stephen Decatur McKnight and James Lyman, 
passengers for England. 

" Oct. 9. — At eight o'clock in the morning discovered a strange sail giving 
chase to us, and fired several guns ; she gaining very fast. At half-past ten o'clock 
hove to, and was boarded by an officer dressed in an English doctor's uniform ; 
the vessel also hoisted an English ensign. The officer proceeded to examine my 
ship's papers, etc., likewise the letter-bags, and took from one of them a letter 
to the victualling office, London. Finding I had two American officers as passengers, 
he immediately left the ship, and went on board the sloop-of-war. He shortly 
after returned, took the American gentlemen with him, and went a second time on 
board the ship. In about half an hour he returned, with Messrs. McKnight and 
Lyman ; and they informed me that the vessel was the United States sloop-of-war 
'Wasp,' commanded by Capt. Blakely, or Blake, last from France, where she had 
refitted; had lately sunk the 'Reindeer,' English sloop-of-war, and another vessel, 
which sunk without their being able to save a single person, or learn the vessel's 
name ; that Messrs. McKnight and Lyman had now determined to leave me and 
go on board the ' Wasp ; ' paid me their passage in dollars, at 5^. <)d. ; and, having 
taken their luggage on board, the ' Wasp ' made sail to the southward. Shortly aftei 
they had left, I discovered that Lieut. McKnight had left his writing-desk behind; 
and I immediately made signal for the '\Vasp' to return, and stood towards her. 
They, observing my signal, stood back, came alongside, and sent their boat on board 
for the writing-desk ; after which they sent me a log-line and some other presents, 
and made all sail in a direction for the line, and, I have reason to suppose, for 
the convoy that passed on Thursday previous." 

And so the " Wasp," with her ill-fated crew thus re-enforced, passed 
forever from the sight of man. What was her course after leaving the 
" Adonis," none may ever know. Whether some chance spark, touching 
the deadly stores of her magazine, sent vessel and crew to a sudden but 
merciful death ; or whether, after gallantly battling with some fierce tropical 
hurricane, she drifted about the trackless ocean a helpless hulk, with a 
slowly dying crew, carried hither and yon before the winds and the cur- 
rents, until her timbers, rotting asunder, gave a watery sepulchre to her 
crew of lifeless bodies, must remain a mystery until the day when the 
sea shall give up its dead. But, until that day comes, the gallant deeds 
done by vessel and crew for the flag under which they served should keep 
the names of the " Wasp " and her men ever memorable in the annals 
of the great nation whose infancy they so gallantly protected. 




CHAPTER XV. 



OPERATIONS ON THE NEW ENGLAND COAST. — THE BOMBARDMENT OF STONINGTON. — 
DESTRUCTION OF THE UNITED STATES CORVETTE " ADAMS." — OPERATIONS ON CHESA^ 
PEAKE BAY. — WORK OF BARNEY'S BARGE FLOTILLA. — ADVANCE OF THE BRITISH UPON 
WASHINGTON. — DESTRUCTION OF THE CAPITOL. — OPER^VTIONS AGAINST BALTIMORE.— 
BOMBARDMENT OF FORT McHENRY. 




HE remaining work of the British blockading squadrons along 
the Atlantic Coast demands some attention, and some account 
must be given of certain land actions which were inseparably 
connected with the course of naval events. This narrative can 
well be divided into two parts, each dealing with the operations of one 
section of the blockading fleet ; thus tracing the course of events up to 
the close of the war on the New England coast, before taking up the 
proceedings on the Chesapeake station. 

It will be remembered that Decatur had been checked in his attempt 
to break the blockade at the eastern end of Long Island Sound, and was 
forced to take the frigates " United States " and " Macedonian," and the 
sloop-of-war " Hornet," into New London Harbor. Early in December, 
1813, he determined to try to slip out; and choosing a dark night, when 
wind and tide were in his favor, he dropped down the bay, and was about 
480 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 48 r 

to put to sea, when bright blue Hghts blazed up on either side of the 
harbor's mouth, and the plan was exposed by the treachery of some party 
never detected. After this failure, the two frigates returned up the river, 
where they remained until the end of the war. The "Hornet" managed 
to get to sea, and did good service before peace was declared. 

In April, 18 14, the British blockaders on the New England coast 
began active operations by sending an expedition up the Connecticut 
River to Pautopaug Point, where the invaders landed, spiked the guns 
of a small battery, and destroyed twenty-two vessels. Thence they pro- 
ceeded down the river, burning a few more craft on the way, and escaped 
safely to their ships ; although a party of militia, and sailors and marines 
from Decatur's vessels, attempted to cut them off. Shortly after this 
occurrence, a fleet of American gunboats attacked the blockading squadron 
off New London, and succeeded in inflicting serious damages upon the 
enemy. 

In June, the enemy's depredations extended to the Massachusetts 
coast. The little village of Wareham was the first sufferer. A suddcr. 
descent made by boats' crews from the frigates "Superb" and " Nimrod " 
so completely surprised the inhabitants, that the enemy burned the ship- 
ping at the wharves, set fire to a factory, and retreated before the vil- 
lagers fully comprehended the blow that had fallen upon them. Like 
occurrences took place at other coast-wise towns ; and, in every case, the 
militia proved powerless to check the enemy. All up and down the New 
England coast, from Maine to the mouth of the Connecticut River, the 
people were panic-stricken ; and hardly a night passed without witnessing 
the flames of some bonfire kindled by the British out of American 
property. 

In August, 1814, Commodore Hardy appeared off Stonington with a 
fleet of several vessels, headed by the seventy-four "Ramillies." Casting 
anchor near shore, he sent to the mayor and selectmen the following 
curt note : " Not wishing to destroy the unoffending inhabitants residing 
in the town of Stonington, one hour is granted them, from the receipt 
of this, to remove out of town." This message naturally caused great 
consternation ; and, while messengers were sent in all directions to call 
together the militia, the answer was returned to the fleet : " We shall 
defend the place to the last extremity. Should it be destroyed, wc will 



482 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 



perish in its ruins." And, having thus defied the enemy, the farmers 
and fishermen who inhabited the town set about preparing for its defence. 
The one battery available for service consisted of two eighteen-pounders 
and a four-pounder, mounted behind earth breastworks. The gunners were 







A. 




THE DESCENT ON W.'iREHAM. 



put under the command of an old sailor, who had been impressed into 
the British navy, where he served four years The skill he thus acquired 
in gunnery, he now gladly used against his former oppressors. It was 
near nightfall when the British opened fire ; and they kept up a constant 
cannonade with round shot, bombs, Congreve rockets, and carcasses until 
near midnight, without doing the slightest damage. The bursting shells, 
the fiery rockets, and the carcasses filled with flaming chemicals, fairly 
filled the little wooden village with fire ; but the exertions of the people 
prevented the spread of the flames. The fleet ceased firing at midnight, 
but there was no peace for the villagers. Militiamen were pouring in 
from the country round about, laborers were at work throwing up breast- 
work, carriers were dashing about in search of ammunition, and all was 
activity, until, with the first gleam of daylight, the fire of the ships was 
re-opened. The Americans promptly responded, and soon two eighteen- 
pound shot hulled the brig " Despatch." For an hour or two a rapid 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 4^^ 



fire was kept up ; then, the powder giving out, the Americans spiked 
their largest gun, and, nailing a flag to the battery flag-staff, went in 
search of more ammunition. The British did not land ; and the Ameri- 
cans, finding six kegs of powder, took the gun to a blacksmith, who 
drilled out the spike, and the action continued. So vigorous and well 
directed was the fire of the Americans, that the "Despatch" was forced 
to slip her cables and make off to a place of safety. That afternoon a 
truce was declared, which continued until eight the next morning. By 
that time, the Americans had assembled in sufficient force to defeat any 
landing party the enemy could send ashore. The bombardment of the 
town continued ; but the aim of the British was so inconceivably poor, 
that, during the three days' firing, no damage was done by their shot. 
A more ludicrous fiasco could hardly be imagined, and the Americans 
were quick to see the comical side of the affair. Before departing, the 
British fired over fifteen tons of lead and iron into the town. A quantity 
of this was picked up by the Americans, and offered for sale. In a 
New York paper appeared the advertisement, — 

" Just received, and offered for sale, about three tons of round shot, consisting of 
six, nine, twelve, eighteen, twenty-four, and thirty-two pounds ; very handsome, being 
a small proportion of those which were fired from His Britannic Majesty's ships on 
the unoffending inhabitants of Stonington, in the recent brilliant attack on that place. 
Likewise a few carcasses, in good order, weighing about two hundred pounds each. 
Apply," etc. 

A popular bard of the time set forth in rollicking verse the exploits of 
rhc British gunners : — 

"Tlity killed a goose, they killed a hen, 
Three hogs they wounded in a pen ; 
They dashed away, — and pray what then? 
That was not taking Stonington. 

"The shells were thrown, the rockets flew; 
But not a shell of all they threw — 
Though every house was full in view — 
Could burn a house in Stonington." 



4^4 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

With this affair, in which the British expended ammunition to tlie amount 
of fifty thousand dollars, and lost twenty men killed and fifty wounded, 
active offensive operations along the Connecticut coast ended. Farther 
north, however, the British still raided towns and villages, showing more 
spirit in their attacks than did Hardy at Stonington. Eastport, Me., 
was captured in July, and converted into a veritable British colony. The 
inhabitants who remained in the town were forced to take an oath of alle- 
giance to Great Britain ; fortifications were thrown up, and an arsenal 
established ; King George's officials were placed in the custom-house, and 
thenceforward until the end of the war the town was virtually British. 
Encouraged by this success, the enemy undertook a more difficult task. 
A formidable fleet of men-of-war and transports, bearing almost ten thou- 
sand troo{js, was fitted out at Halifa.x for the purpose of reducing to British 
rule all that part of Maine lying between Passamaquoddy Bay and the 
Penobscot River. This expedition set sail from Halifa.x on the 26th of 
August, bound for Machias ; but on the voyage down the coast of Maine 
the brig "Rifleman" was encountered, and from her the presence of the 
United States corvette "Adams " in the Penobscot River was learned. It 
will be remembered that the "Adams," before entering the river, had chased 
the British brig. Upon learning this, the British naval commander, Admiral 
Griffiths, pressed forward to the mouth of the Penobscot, and, anchoring 
there, despatched a land and naval expedition up the river for the capture 
of the corvette. 

When the news of this advancing force reached Capt. Morris, the 
" Adams " was partially out of water, dismantled, and in the hands of the 
ship carpenters, who were repairing the injuries she had received on 
the rocks off Mount Desert. The ship herself was utterly defenceless, 
but Morris made strenuous attempts to collect a land force to defend her. 
He managed to rally a few hundred militia-men, who, with the sailors and 
marines, were routed by the enemy on the night of the 3d of September 
Finding that the enemy's forces were not to be driven back by so small a 
body of men, Morris retreated, first setting fire to the corvette, which was 
totally destroyed before the British came up. 

The retreating sailors were then forced to march over rugged roads t'' 
Portsmouth, N.H. ; and, as walking was an exercise they were little accus 
tomed to, many suffered severely from the unusual exertion. The difficulty 



BLUE-JACKI'TS OF 1S12. 4^5 

of getting provisions along the road led the men to separate into several 
parties ; but, notwithstanding the opportunities thus afforded for desertion, 
all who were not broken down by the long march ultimately reported for 
duty at the Portsmouth navy-yard. 

Along the. Southern sea-board the course of the war was even more 
disastrous to the Americans. Intelligence which reached the national 
authorities in the spring of iSi4led them to believe that the British were 
planning an expedition for the capture of Washington. Grave as was the 
danger, the authorities were slow to move ; and though in July the Govern- 
ment called for fifteen thousand troops, and gave their command to Gen. 
Winder, yet the actual defensive force about the national capital consisted 
of but a few hundred militia. The naval defence was intrusted to the 
veteran Commodore Barney, who had served with distinction in the Revo- 
lution, and during the early years of the second war with Great Britain had 
commanded the Baltimore privateer " Rossie." The force put under 
Barney's command consisted of twenty-six gun-boats and barges, manned 
by nine hundred men. Chiefly by his own energetic exertions, this force 
was ready for service in April ; and by June the crews were drilled and 
disciplined, and the commanders schooled in the tactics of squadron 
evolutions. On the ist of that month occurred the first brush with the 
enemy. The American flotilla was then lying in Chesapeake Bay, a little 
below the mouth of the Patuxent ; and, a portion of the enemy's squadron 
coming within range, Barney ordered out his forces in chase. The British, 
outnumbered, fled down the bay ; but, though Barney was rapidly over- 
hauling them, he saw his hopes of victory shattered by the sudden appear- 
ance of His Britannic Majesty's seventy-four gun ship "Dragon." Thus 
re-enforced, it became the turn of the British to pursue ; and the Americans 
retreated, firing constantly as they fled. The British continuing their 
advance, Barney was forced to take shelter in the Patuxent River ; and he 
was gradually forced up that stream as far as the mouth of St. Leonard's 
Creek. The enemy then, feeling certain that the Americans were fairly 
entrapped, anchored at the mouth of the river, and awaited re-enforcements. 
These soon arrived ; and on the 8th of the month the enemy's forces, 
consisting of a frigate, brig, and two schooners, moved up the river to 
the mouth of the creek. Farther they could not go, owing to shoal-water ; 
but they fitted out a small flotilla of barges, and sent them on up the creek. 



4^*^ BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

With tliis enemy Commodore Barney was ready to come to close quarters ; 
and he moved down upon the British, who quickly retreated to the shelter 
of their ships. Two or three such sham attacks were made by the enemy, 
but not until the loth of the month did they actually give battle to the 
Americans. 

On the morning of that day the British advanced in force to the attack ; 
and the peaceful little creek was ablaze with flags and bright uniforms, 
and the wooded shores echoed back the strains of martial music. Twenty- 
one barges, one rocket-boat, and two schooners formed the British column 
of attack, which moved grandly up the creek, with the bands playing 
patriotic airs, and the sailors, confident of victory, cheering lustily. Eight 
hundred men followed the British colors. Against this force Barney 
advanced with but five hundred sailors. His sloop and gun-vessels he 
left at anchor, as being too unwieldy for the narrow shoal-waters of St. 
Leonard's Creek ; and he met the enemy's flotilla with but thirteen barges. 
The enemy opened the action at long range with rockets and howitzers. 
The former were terrible missiles in an action of this character, correspond- 
ing to the shells of modern naval warfare. Some idea of their destructive- 
ness may be derived from the fact, that one of them, fired at long range, 
exploded and set fire to a boat, after having first passed through the body 
of one of her crew. Barney had no rockets ; and, as the combat at long 
range was telling upon his men, he at once dashed forward into the midst 
of the. enemy. Soon the barges were engaged in desperate hand-to-hand 
conflicts. The sailors, grappling with their adversary's craft, fought with 
pistol and cutlass across the gunwales. Barney, in a small barge with 
twenty men, dashed about, now striking a blow in aid of some overmatched 
American boat, then cheering on some laggard, or applauding some deed 
of gallantry that occurred in his sight. Major William Barney, son of the 
commodore, saw an American barge on fire, and deserted by her crew who 
feared the explosion of her magazine. Running his boat alongside, he 
jumped into the flaming craft ; and by dint of bailing in water, and rocking 
her from side to side, he succeeded in saving the barge. For more than an 
hour the action raged, both sides fighting with great vigor and gallantry ; 
but the Americans having pierced the British line, the enemy, falling into 
confusion, turned, and strained every muscle to gain the protection of 
their ship's guns. The Americans followed in hot pursuit; but their 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812, 48; 

course was abruptly checked at the mouth of the creek by a British 
schooner, whose eighteen guns commanded respect. For a moment the 
pursuing barges fell back ; then, choosing advantageous positions, they 
opened fire upon the schooner with such effect that she soon turned to 
escape. She succeeded in getting under the protecting guns of the frigate 
and sloop-of-war, but was so cut to pieces in the short action that she was 
run aground and abandoned. The larger vessels now opened fire upon 
Barney's forces ; and the flotilla, after a few shots of defiance, returned 
to its quarters up the creek. 

For the ne.xt two weeks all was quiet along the shores of the Patu.xent 
and St. Leonard's Creek. The enemy had learned wisdom from their 
late defeat, and contented themselves with blockading the mouth of the 
creek, and leaving Barney undisturbed in his retreat. But the doughty 
commodore had no idea of being thus confined, and during the time of 
quiet made preparations fo'; an attempt to break the blockade. Land 
forces from Washington were sent down to aid in this attempt ; and two 
pieces of artillery were to be mounted on a hill at the mouth of the creek, 
and thence throw red-hot shot into the enemy's ships. The land forces, 
however, rendered not the slightest assistance ; and a too cautious colonel 
posted the battery at such a point that no shot could reach the enemy 
without first passing through a hill. Accordingly, when Barney led his 
flotilla gallantly down to the attack, he found that the issue of the conflict 
rested upon the sailors alone. From the battery, which was expected to 
draw the enemy's fire, not a single effective shot was fired. The sailors 
fought nobly, using their heavy long twelves and eighteens with great 
effect. But they were sadly hampered by their position ; for the mouth of 
the creek was so narrow that but eight barges could lie abreast, and the 
others coming down from above soon packed the little stream from shore 
to shore, giving the enemy a mark that the poorest gunner could hardly 
miss. Against the storm of grape and canister that the British poured 
upon them, the sailors had absolutely no protection. The barges were 
without bulwarks, and the blue-jackets at the guns and at the oars were 
exposed to the full force of the British fire. Yet in this exposed situation 
the gallant fellows kept up the fight for nearly an hour, only with- 
drawing when the last ray of hope for help from the shore battery had 
vanished. Shortly after the Americans abandoned the attack, the blockad- 



^88 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

ing squadron got under way and stood down the bay. From the way in 
which one of the frigates was working her pumjjs, the Americans saw that 
their fire liad not been entirely without effect. 

]5ariic)-',s flotilla had now given the British so much trouble that they 
determined to destroy it without delay ; and an expedition of more than 
five thousand men — composed of regulars, marines, and a few negroes 
— was carried up the Patuxent, and landed at Benedict, where an armed 
brig had been stationed to cover the disembarkation. It was early dawn 
when the signal to land was given, and the river was covered in an 
instant with a well-manned and warlike flotilla. It was hard work for the 
British sailors, for a strong current was running ; but by three o'clock 
in the afternoon the whole army was landed, and encamped in a strong 
position on a hill overlooking the village. Though no American troops 
were anywhere in the vicinity, the landing was conducted with the utmost 
caution. As the prow of each boat grated on the sand, the soldiers 
leaped on the beach, and instantly drew up in line, ready to repel any 
attack. After the infantry was landed, about a hundred artillerymen 
rolloweu, and the same number of sailors dragging howitzers. 

It is easily understood that this powerful force was not organized solely 
to destroy Barney's pitiful little flotilla. The real purpose of the British 
commander was to press on into the interior, and capture Washington, 
which the Americans had foolishly left without any defences whatever. 
It came to Barney's ears that Admiral Cockburn had boasted that he 
would destroy the American flotilla, and dine in Washington the following 
Sunday. This news the American commodore sent off to the authorities 
at the capital, and they then began to make futile preparations to repel 
the invader. In the mean time the British commenced their march up the 
shores of the Patuxent, meeting with no opposition. Barney, knowing 
that the defence of the national capital was of far greater importance than 
the fate of his flotilla, landed with four hundred men, and hastened to the 
American lines before Washington. He left the barges under the com- 
mand of the second lieutenant, Mr. Frazier, with instructions to set fire 
to every boat on the appearance of the enemy, and then join the com- 
modore with all the men left under his charge. Accordingly, when the 
invading column reached Nottingham, Mr. Frazier took the flotilla still 
higher up the creek, — a move t'nat vastly disconcerted the British, who 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 



4^:9 



saw their prey eluding them. "But in the main object of our pursuit we 
were disappointed," wrote a British officer. "The flotilla which had been 
stationed opposite to Nottingham retired, on our approach, higher up the 
stream ; and we were consequently in the situation of a huntsman who 
sees his hounds at fault, and has every reason to apprehend that his game 
will escape." But the game never fell into the hands of the ardent 
hunters; for the next day Mr. Frazier fulfilled his orders by setting fire 
to every barge, and, after seeing several of the larger boats blow up, 
mustered his men, and cut across the country, to join his superior ofificer. 







_»</'■&%,« 



y^ -.yl-j^ 



SHARPSHOOTERS. 



The British naval forces soon after reached Pig Point, the scene of this 
destruction, and there remained ; while the land forces immediately turned 
away from the river, and marched upon Washington. 

It is not necessary to give in detail the incidents of the series of 
skirmishes by which the British fought their way to the American capital. 
They were opposed by raw militia, and the few sailors and marines under 
Barney. The former fled with promptitude at the very first fire, but 
the sailors and marines fought gallantly. The fighting was sharpest at 
Bladcnsburg; and here Barney's blue-jackets won jjraise from everybody, 



490 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812, 

even from the enemy whose advance they disputed. Barney himself led 
the Americans, and sighted a favorite gun of the sailors' battery, until 
he fell desperately wounded. This battery commanded the road by which 
the main column of British advanced ; and by its hail of grape and canister 
it beat back the advancing regiments, and for some time checked their 
further progress. The British thereupon opened with rockets, and sent 
out sharp-shooters to pick off the Yankee gunners. One of these riflemen 
was observed by the Americans to deliberately build for himself a small 
redoubt of stones from an old wall ; and, lying down behind it, he began 
a deliberate fire upon the Americans. His first bullet went through the 
cap of one of the sailors, and the second sent a poor fellow to his long 
account. The marines answered with their muskets ; but the fellow's 
stone rampart saved him, and he continued his fire. Barney vowed to 
put an end to that affair, and, carefully sighting one of his cannon, pulled 
the lanyard. The heavy round shot was seen to strike the sharp-shooter's 
defence, and stones and man disappeared in a cloud of dust. Meantime, 
the enemy had thrown out flanking parties under cover of the woods, and 
had nearly surrounded the little band of sailors. A musket-ball struck 
Barney in the thigh, and he began to grow faint with loss of blood ; and, 
finding that the militia had fled, and the sailors were becoming exhausted, 
the commodore ordered a retreat. The blue-jackets left the field in good 
order ; but their gallant commander had gone but a few steps, when 
the pain of his wound forced him to lie down under a tree, and await the 
coming of the enemy. The British soon came up, led by Gen. Ross and 
Capt. Wainwright of the navy. After learning Barney's rank, and courte- 
ously offering to secure surgical aid, the general turned to his companion, 
and, speaking of the stubborn resistance made by the battery, said, " I 
told you it was the flotilla men." — "Yes. You were right, though I could 
not believe you," was the response. "They have given us the only fight- 
ing we have had." 

Meanwhile, the British, having routed the Americans at every point, 
pressed oij to Washington. The inhabitants fled before them, and the town 
was almost deserted when the British marched in with banners flying and 
bands playing. The enemy held the city for only a day ; but in that time 
they did such deeds of vandalism, that even the people and the press of 
London cried out in indignation. The President's house, the Capitol, all 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



491 



the public buildings except the Patent Office, were burned to the ground. 
The navy-yard, with the uncompleted ships on the stocks, was likewise 
burned ; but in this the enemy only acted in accordance with the rules of 
war. It was their destruction of the public buildings, the national archives, 
and the Congressional library, that aroused the wrathful indignation of all 
fair-minded people, whether Americans or Europeans. " Willingly," said 



■XaCI 







"^i 






«2/'^... 






THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON. 

one London newspaper, " would we throw a veil of oblivion over our trans- 
actions at Washington. The Cossacks spared Paris, but we spared not 
the capital of America." A second English journal fitly denounced the 
proceedings as "a return to the times of barbarism." 

But, if the invaders are rightly to be blamed for the useless vandalism 



492 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

they encouraged, the American authorities are still more culpable for their 
neglect of the most ordinary precautions of war. That a national capital, 
close to the sea, should be left virtually unprotecteil while the enemy was 
massing his forces only a few miles away, seems almost unbelievable. But 
■) it was with Washington ; for five hundred flotilla men were forced to bear 
the brunt of the attack of five thousand British. True it is that the mili- 
tary authorities had massed seven thousand militia-men for the defence of 
the city ; but such was the trepidation of these untrained soldiers, that they 
fled before the main body of the British had come into the fight. That 
the sailors and marines fought bravely, we have the testimony of the 
^ntish themselves. Mr. Gleig, a subaltern in the attacking army, writes, 
"Of the sailors, however, it would be injustice not to speak in the terms 
which their conduct merits. They were employed as gunners ; and not 
only did they serve their guns with a quickness and precision which 
astonished their assailants, but they stood till some of them were actually 
bayonneted with fuses in their hands ; nor was it till their leader was 
'.vounded and taken, and they saw themselves deserted on all sides by the 
?9ldiers, that they quitted the field." Therefore, in the battle of Bladens- 
burg, the blue-jackets won nothing but honor, though the results of the 
" ■'ttle were so mortifying to the national pride of the people of the United 
Stat»,s. 

On the 25th of August the British left the smoking ruins of Washington 
behind them, and made for their fleet lying in the Patu.xent. They feared 
that the outraged nation would rise upon them, and turn their march into 
a bloody retreat, like that of the British soldiery from the historic field of 
Lexington. Accordingly their departure was by night, immediately after 
furious storm of rain and wind. Strict orders were issued to all the 
Americans in Washington, warning them, under penalty of death, not to 
leave their houses until the sun rose the next morning. Then the British 
stealthily marched out of the town. "No man spoke above his breath " 
says subaltern Gleig. " Our very steps were planted lightly, and we 
cleared the town without exciting observation." A two days' march 
brought them to Benedict, where the fleet lay in waiting for their reception. 

In the mean time, a portion of the British fleet had ascended the 
Potomac as far as Alexandria, and, finding that town defenceless, pro- 
ceeded to dictate to the inhabitants the terms upon which they could 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 493 

save their village from desolation. The British demanded that all naval 
stores and ordnance, all the shipping and its furniture, all merchandise, 
and all provisions in the town should be surrendered. Several vessels had 
been scuttled, to prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy ; these, 
the British demanded, should be raised, repaired, and delivered to them 
Time, however, did not permit the fulfilment of this condition; but to tlife 
others, harsh and humiliating though they were, the inhabitants were 
forced to accede. Heavy laden with the spoils of the village, the pillagers 
weighed anchor and started down the Potomac. But they were not 
destined to carry away their booty unmolested. News of the expedition 
reached Baltimore, and a large party of the sailors at the navy-yard were 
sent to the banks of the Potomac to cut off the enemy's retreat. They 
were officered by four men famous in American naval annals, — Perry, 
Rodgers, Porter, and Creighton. At Indian Head, just below Mount 
Vernon, the Potomac River narrows and flows swiftly between densely 
wooded bluffs. At this point the Americans threw up redoubts, and, 
mounting all the cannon that could be gathered on such short notice, pre- 
pared to dispute the enemy's passage. When the British fleet hove in 
sight, they were greeted with a storm of shot from the unsuspected 
batteries; and they recoiled in confusion. Practised American hunters 
lined the woody shores, and picked off the British sailors with musket- 
balls. For some time the fleet was thus checked in its progress. Finally 
the admiral determined that only by a bold dash could he escape ; and 
accordingly, massing his vessels and concentrating his fire on the chief 
battery, he dashed past, and rejoined his superior officer, Cockburn, not 
without paying dearly for his exploit at Alexandria. 

While the British were thus devastating the shores of Chesapeake 
B ly, they cast more than one longing look toward the thriving city of 
B.dtimore, which, by its violent patriotism, had done much to urge on 
the war. From the ship-yards of Baltimore came more than one stout 
naval vessel that had forced the enemy to haul down his colors. But 
that which more than any thing else aroused the hatred of the British 
was the share Baltimore took in fitting out and manning those swift 
privateers, concerning whose depredations upon British commerce we shall 
have something to say in a later chapter. "It is a doomed town," said 
Vice-admiral Warren "The truculent inhabitants of Baltimore must be 



494 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



tamed with the weapons which shook the wooden turrets of Copenhagen," 
cried the editor of a great London paper. But, nevertheless, Baltimore did 
not fall before the invader, although for some time the army and navy of 
the enemy were united in the attempt to bring desolation upon the obnox- 
ious city. 

After the fall of Washington, the depredations of the Briti-sh along the 
shores of Chesapeake Bay redoubled, and the marauding expeditions thus 
employed were really feelers thrown out to test the strength of the defenses 

of Baltimore. That the ma- 
rauders found some oppo- 
sition, is evident from a pas- 
sage in the journal of a 
British officer. " But these 
hasty excursions, though 
generally successful, were 
not always performed with- 
out loss to the invaders." 
On one of these expeditions. 
Sir Peter Parker, captain of 
the frigate " Menelaus," lost 
his life. He had been 
ordered down to the mouth 
of the bay just after the fall 
of Washington. " I must 
first have a frolic with the Yankees," said he. And accordingly, after a 
jovial dinner aboard his frigate, he led a night expedition of sailors and 
marines ashore, expecting to surprise a small body of Maryland militia 
stationed at Moorfields. Sir Peter's frolic turned out disastrously; for the 
Marylanders were on the watch, and received the invaders with a fierce 
volley. Sir Peter was gallantly cheering on his men, when a musket-ball 
cut the main artery in is thigh. " They have hit me, Pcarce," he said 
faintly to his lieutenant; "but it's nothing. Push on, my brave boys, and 
follow me." But even thus cheering, he fell back, the words died away in 
his throat, and he bled to death before a surgeon could be found. It is but 
right to say, that, though he sailed in Cockburn's command, he had none of 
the cruel brutality which his admiral too often showed. 




PLANNING THE ATTACK. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 495 

On the 1 2th of September a more serious assault was made upon 
Baltimore. The British naval and military forces united in the attack, 
which was made by land and sea. A force of nine thousand men, includ- 
ing two thousand marines and two thousand sailors, was landed fifteen 
miles from Baltimore, and under the command of Gen. Ross and Admiral 
Cockburn marched gayly inland, never doubting that they would find the 
Americans unprepared, and repeat their exploits at Washington. In this 
expectation they were sadly disappointed ; for the Maryland militia, aided 
by a few regulars and s&amen, outfought the British at every point, and 
checked their farther advance. Among the slain was Gen. Ross, who 
was shot down as he was leading the advance of the British skirmishers. 
In the mean time, the British fleet had been taking its share in the 
engagement by attempting to reduce Fort McHenry. A large flotilla of 
frigates, schooners. sIoods. and bomb-ketches entered the Patapsco River 
)n the morning of the 12th, and, casting anchor out of the reach of 
:he fort's guns, opened a furious fire. The fort was manned by militia- 
men and a large detachment of the gallant sailors from Barney's flotilla. 
When the continual falling of shells within the fort told that the enemy 
had come within range, the guns of Fort McHenry opened in response. 
But, to the intense chagrin of the Americans, it was found that their works 
mounted not a single gun that would carry to the enemy's fleet. There 
then remained to the garrison only the trying duty of holding their post, 
and enduring without response a galling fire from the enemy. All the 
garrison stood to the guns without flinching ; while the shrieking shells 
fell on all sides, and, exploding, scattered deadly missiles in all directions. 
One shell struck and dismounted one of the twenty-four-pounders, killing 
and wounding several of its men. Admiral Cochrane, who commanded the 
attacking fleet, saw this incident, and ordered three of his bomb-vessels 
to move up nearer to the fort. This gave the Americans the opportunity 
for which they had been longing, and instantly every gun in the fort 
opened upon the three luckless ketches. Half an hour of this fire 
sufficed to drive the three vessels back to their original station. 

Night fell, but brought no cessation of the bombardment. But the 
enemy, while never slackening his fire, had determined to take advantage 
of the darkness to send out a landing party to take two small batteries 
on the banks of the Patapsco, and then assault Fort McHenry from the 



49^ BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

rear. Twelve hundred and fifty men, with scaling-ladders and fascines, 
left the fleet in barges, and moved up the Patapsco towards Fort Coving 
ton and the City Battery. But their plan, though well laid, was defeated 
by the vigilance and courage of the garrisons of the two threatened 
positions, — sailors all, and many of them men from Barney's flotilla, a 
training-school which seems to have given to the region about Chesapeake 
Bay its most gallant defenders. Just as the storming party turned the 
prows of the barges towards the shore, they were discovered ; and from 
McHenry, Covington, and the City Battery burst a thunderous artillery- 
fire, that shook the houses in Baltimore, and illumined the dark shores 
of the river with a lurid glare. Bold as the British sailors were, they 
could advance no farther under so terrible a fire. Two of the barges 
were shot to pieces, leaving their crews struggling in the water. A 
ceaseless hail of grape and canister spread death and wounds broadcast 
among the enemy ; and, after wavering a moment, they turned and fled 
to their ships. Cochrane, seeing his plan for taking the American positions 
l)y assault thus frustrated, redoubled the fury of his fire ; hoping that, 
when daybreak made visible the distant shore, nothing but a heap of ruins 
sliould mark the spot where Fort McHenry stood the night before. 

A night bombardment is at once a beautiful and a terrible spectacle. 
The ceaseless flashing of the great guns, lighting up with a lurid glare 
the dense clouds of smoke that hang over the scene of battle ; the roar 
of the artillery ; the shriek of the shell as it leaves the cannon's mouth, 
slowly dying into a murmur and a dull explosion, as, with a flash of fire, 
the missile e.xjjlodes far away, — combine to form a picture, that, despite 
the horrors of wounds and death, rouses the enthusiasm and admiration 
of the beholder. When viewed from the deck of one of an attacking 
fleet, the scene is even more impressive. At each discharge of the great 
guns, the vessel reels and trembles like a huge animal in agony. The 
surging waters alongside reflect in their black depths the flash of the 
cannon and the fiery trail of the flying shell. Far in the distance can 
be seen the flashes of the enemy's guns, each of which may mean the 
despatch of a missile bringing death and pain in its track. One who 
has witnessed such a spectacle can readily understand the fascination which 
men find in the great game of war. 

Pacing the deck of the one of the British vessels was a young American, 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1 812. 497 

whose temperament was such that he could fully appreciate all the beauties 
of the scene, even though harassed by anxious fears lest the British should 
be successful. This man was Francis S. Key, who had visited the fleet 
with a flag of truce, but was unable to get away before the bombardment 
began. When the sun set on the evening of the 13th, Key saw his 
country's flag waving proudly over the ramparts at which the British guns 
had been so furiously pounding. Would that flag still be there when the 
sun should rise again ? That was the question which Key asked himself 
as he anxiously walked the deck throughout the night, striving to pierce 
the darkness, and make out, by the lurid lightnings of the cannon, 
whether the flag was still there. As the night wore on. Key took an old 
letter from his pocket, and on the blank sheet jotted down the lines of 
the immortal national song, " The Star Spangled Banner." Its words 
merely voice the writer's thoughts ; for often during that night he looked 
anxiously shorewards, to sec if 

"the rockets' red glare, tlie bombs bursting in air. 
Gave proof, through the night, that our flag was still there." 

When the anxiously awaited daylight came. Fort McHenry still stood ; 
and over it v/aved defiantly the starry folds of the United States flag. 
The British saw that, by land and sea, their attack had failed ; and early 
in the morning the fleet, after taking on board the. remnant of the land 
forces, sailed suddenly away, and left Baltimore safe. They had bombarded 
Fort McHcnry for twenty-five hours, throvi'ing nearly two thousand shells. 
Yet, wonderful as it may appear, only four of the Americans were killed, 
and twenty-four wounded. With this failure the British ended their chief 
offensive operations along the shores of the Chesapeake. The greater 
part of the fleet and the soldiery then moved southward, to take part in 
the operations along the Gulf coast, that culminated in the disastrous 
defeat of the invaders at New Orleans. 
IS 




CHAPTER XVI. 



DESULTORV HOSTILITIES ON THE OCEAN. — ATTACK UPON FORT BOWYER. — LAFITTE THE 
PIRATE. — BRITISH EXPEDITION AGAINST NEW ORLEANS. — BATTLE AT THE RIGOLETS. — 
.ATTACK ON NEW ORLEANS, AND DEFEAT OF THE BRITISH. —WORK OF THE BLUE-JACKETS. 
- CAPTURE OF THE FRIGATE " PRESIDENT." — THE " CONSTITUTION " TAKES THE " CYANE " 
AND "LEVANT." — THE "HORNET" TAKES THE " PENGUIN." — END OF THE WAR. 




HE nav^al incidents of the latter part of 1814 conferred little 
honor upon either of the belligerents. Seldom did the meetings 
between hostile ships rise to the dignity of battles. One or two 
small American brigs fell a prey to British frigates ; but in every 
instance the disparity of force was so great that the weaker surrendered 
wvithout striking a blow. Such was the case with the si-\teen-gun brig 
" Rattlesnake," which escaped from one British frigate by throwing over- 
board all her guns, only to immediately fall a prey to the " Leander." In 
July of the same year, the United States brig " Siren " was captured by 
the British frigate " Medway," off the coast of Africa, after a long chase, 
during which the American hove overboard every thing movable on the 
brig. Not all these petty encounters ended so favorably for the enemy. 
Off New York a cutting-out party of volunteers surprised and captured 
the British tender " Eagle," a small craft carrying one thirty-two-pound 
498 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 499 

howitzer, and fourteen men. Ten days later, the frigate "Tenedos," which 
had done such good service on the blockade, suffered the loss of her 
tender, which was gallantly carried away by the crew of a Yankee gunboat. 
Some very desperate combats between American privateers and British 
naval vessels were fought about this time, and will be duly noted in detail 
m the chapter treating of the exploits of the private armed navy. 

As the autumn came on, the British naval forces began to rendezvous 
in the Gulf of Mexico, preparatory to the campaign before New Orleans. 
On Sept. 14, a squadron of four British sloops-of-war appeared off Mobile, 
and opened fire upon Fort Bowyer, which guarded the entrance to Mo- 
bile Bay. The attack was vigorous, and the defence determined. A 
British land expedition moved upon the fort from the landward side ; and 
the little garrison found itself surrounded by enemies, many of whom were 
Indians, whose savage assistance the British had accepted from the very 
opening of the war. A small force, only, defended the fort. Percy, the 
British admiral, knew the weakness of the garrison ; and, thinking of 
the ninety-two guns he could bring to bear against the twenty worked 
by the Americans, announced proudly, that he would give the garrison 
just twenty minutes to surrender. The twenty minutes passed quickly, 
and still the fort responded savagely to the fire of its assailants. The 
flag of the British ship " Hermes " was shot away ; and soon after, a round 
shot cut her cable, and she drifted upon a sand-bank, and lay helpless, 
and exposed to a raking fire. Her captain, having set her afire, abandoned 
her ; and she soon blew up. The other vessels kept up the attack 
gallantly for a time. The flag-staff of the fort was shot away ; but the 
flag soon re-appeared, waving from a sponge-staff. The Americans then 
redoubled their fire, which soon told so severely upon the British ships 
that they were forced to withdraw. In the mean time, the assault of the 
Indians and troops had been checked, and the forces driven back in 
disorder, thus leaving the victory ♦'o the Americans. 

It is not within the province of this work to treat of the military 
operations that led up to the battle of New Orleans. But the last months 
of 1814 witnessed a series of naval incidents trivial in themselves, but 
deriving importance from their connection with Gen. Jackson's great victory. 
Over certain incidents in the preparations of the Americans for repelling 
the invasion hangs a shade of romance. 



500 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

To the southward of the quaint, rambling, rose-covered city of New 
Oilcans, the tawny flood of the Mississippi winds towards the gulf in 
huge serpentine curves. The shores between which it flows rise scarce 
higher than the surface of the river itself; and a slight increase in the 
volume of water, or a strong wind, will serve to turn the whole region 
into a great, watery marsh. From the mouth of the great river, the whole 
coast of Louisiana, extending north and west, is a grassy sea, a vast 
expanse of marsh-grass, broken here and there by inlets of the Mexican 
Gulf, and sluggish, winding bayous that lead up into the higher lands of 
the State, — water-ways that lead even to the back door of the Crescent 
City herself, but known only to oyster-gatherers, or in 18 14 to the adven- 
turous men who followed the banner of Lafitte the Baratarian pirate. 

Pirate he was called then ; but it is doubtful whether his misdeeds ever 
exceeded smuggling, or, at worst, privateering under the protecting flag of 
some belligerent nation. When all nations were warring, what was easier 
than for a few gallant fellows, with swift-sailing feluccas, to lurk about 
the shores of the gulf, and now under the Spanish flag, now under the 
French, or any colors which suited the case, sally out and capture the 
richly laden Indiamen that frequented those summer seas .'' And when a 
power known as the United States Government, that had its quarters 
more than a thousand miles from the country of the Creoles, passed an 
outrageous law known as the embargo, what was more natural than that 
the Baratarians, knowing the mysterious water-ways that led up to the 
Crescent City, should utilize their knowledge to take ships and cargoes 
in and out without the formality of a custom-house examination ? Such 
were the times that led to the formation and growth of the " piratical " 
colony of Barataria. Its leaders and rulers were John and Pierre Lafitte ; 
one of whom lived in New Orleans in the character of a prosperous 
icrchant, while the other led the expeditions which brought in merchan- 
..iise to stock the former's stores. Under the influence of the warlike 
state of Europe, the trade of these worthies throve, and their settlement 
at Grande Isle took on the appearance of a prosperous colony and naval 
station. Storehouses and dwellings stood close to the sea. The fertile 
face of the island was cut up into fruitful plantations and orange-groves. 
Breastworks, well dotted with the muzzles of cannon, commanded the 
approach by sea. More than once, from behind those ramparts, the Bar- 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 5°^ 

atarians had proved that they could fight, and that they acknowledged 
the authority of no flag. The Creoles of New Orleans looked indulgently 
upon the conduct of the outlaws ; but the few Americans in the city were 
highly incensed to see the authority of the United States thus set aside, 
and vowed that when the war was over the audacious adventurers should 
be crushed. However, the end came even sooner. 

On the 3d of September, a British armed brig anchored near the bucca- 
neers' retreat, and sent a flag of truce ashore. Lafitte, with great dignity, 
received the envoys in his tent, and assured them of his protection, though 
the whole village was up in arms clamoring for the death of the intruders. 
The British officer then announced that he had come to secure the aid 
of Lafitte and his followers in the campaign against New Orleans. He 
offered the pirate captain forgiveness for all piracies committed against 
the British flag, — whereat the chief smiled sardonically, — also thirty 
thousand dollars in cash, a captain's commission in the British navy, and 
lands for himself and his followers. It was a tempting bribe ; for at that 
moment Lafitte's brother lay in the calaboza at New Orleans awaiting trial 
for piracy, and the Americans were preparing rapidly for a descent upon 
the Baratarian stronghold. But, little as he liked the American flag, Lafitte 
liked the British still less: so, asking the Englishman to wait a few days for 
his answer, he sent a report of the occurrence to the New Orleans authori- 
ties, and offered to co-operate with the Americans, if he could be assured of 
pardon for all offences committed against the government. This document 
caused some hesitation at New Orleans ; but the military authorities deter- 
mined to refuse the offer, and break up the outlaws' nest. Accordingly, a 
few days later, the war schooner "Carolina," si.x gun-boats, a tender, and 
a launch, dropped down the Mississippi, and, rounding into the deep blue 
waters of the gulf, headed for Barataria. Lafitte had too many friends in 
New Orleans not to know of the force thus sent against him; and, when the 
Americans reached Grande Terre, they found the pirates at their batteries, 
and the Baratarian flotilla drawn up in order of battle. The contest way 
sharp, but ended in the rout of the Baratarians. Their village was burned, 
their fortifications razed; and, when the triumphant Americans returned to 
New Orleans, they brought in their train ten armed prizes and a numbei 
of prisoners, although Lafitte was not to be found among the latter. 
Thereafter, the Baratarians, as an organization, vanished from history. 



502 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

Lafitte was afterwards occasionally heard of as a desperado on the mora 
western shores of the Mexican Gulf ; and it is further noticeable, that two 
guns were served by Baratarians under their old lieutenant, Dominique Yon, 
on that bloody day when Packenham's forces were beaten back on the field 
of Chalmette. 

Early in December the movement of the British upon New Orleans 
took definite shape. On the 8th of that month, the calm waters of the Gulf 
of Mexico, off the Chandeleur Islands, were the scene of a grand rendez- 
vous of British naval and military forces. All the vessels of Cockburn's 
Chesapeake fleet were there, with other men-of-war, transports, and 
schooners, to the number of fifty vessels. At the head was the towering 
two-decker "Tonnant," carrying the Admiral's flag. Frigates, corvettes, 
and sloops-of-war came trooping in the rear ; and the transports bore seven 
thousand men for the capture of the Southern city. The British were in 
high good-humor as the anchors were let fall and the ships swung round 
with their heads to the tide. The voyage across the gulf from the rendez- 
vous at Jamaica had been like a holiday trip. The weather had been fine, 
and the sea smooth ; and the soft air of that semi-tropical region was a 
never-ending source of delight to sailors who had been suffering the hard- 
ships of a Northern station. 

The point at which the British fleet had come to anchor lay about 
fifty miles due east of New Orleans. In that day of sailing-vessels, no 
enemy could breast the waters of the rolling Mississippi and crush the 
resistance of the city's defenders, as did Farragut in 1862. Knowing 
that they could not hope to take their ships up to tlic levee of the city, 
the enemy determined to cast anchor near the entrance of Lake Borgne, 
and send through a chain of lakes and bayous a mammoth expedition in 
barges, to a point within ten miles of the city. But this well-laid plan had 
'-ccn betrayed to the Americans by Lafitte ; and a little band of American 
3iilors, under the command of Lieut. Catesby Jones, had taken up a 
position at the Rigolets, and were prepared to dispute the farther progress 
of the invading forces. Five gunboats, and one hundred and eighty-five 
men, constituted the American force, which for a time held the British 
in check. Finally, the enemy, finding that the swift American cutters 
could easily evade the lumbering war-vessels, fitted out a fleet of forty-five 
barges, manned by a thousand veteran British sea-dogs, who had seen 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 503 

service in half a dozen naval wars. The Americans had news of the 
contemplated attack, and made skilful preparations to meet it. The 
gunboats were moored in a fore and aft line, at a point near the Rigolets. 
Their broadsides bore upon the enemy, and the shallowness of the water 
was such that by no means could they be surrounded. The sailors were 
prepared for a desperate conflict, and spent the night before the battle in 
tricing up the boarding-nettings, sharpening cutlasses, and getting small- 
arms in good trim. In the morning the British came on to the attack. 
It was a long pull from the fleet to the place of battle : so their commander 
brought his flotilla to anchor just out of range of the American guns ; and 
there the grim old veterans devoured their dinners, and took their rations 
of grog, with appetites undisturbed by the thought of the coming conflict. 
Dinner over, the enemy weighed anchor, and dashed forward, with long, 
swift strokes, into the very flashes of the Americans' cannon. The 
Americans knew that their one chance of victory was to keep the 
overwhelming forces of their foe out of boarding distance, and they worked 
their guns with a rapidity born of desperation. Musket-bullets, grape- 
shot, and canister poured in a murderous fire upon the advancing boats. 
But the sturdy old British veterans knew that the best way to stop that 
fire was to get at the base of it ; and they pressed on undauntedly, respond- 
ing vigorously, meanwhile, with their bow guns. Soon they were up to 
the gunwales of the American flotilla, and the grappling-irons were fixed ; 
then, with sharp blows of cutlasses, deadly play of the pikes, and a ceaseless 
rattle of small-arms, they poured upon the decks of the Americans. The 
boarding-nettings could not long check so furious a foe, and fell before 
the fierce slash of the cutlasses. The decks once gained, the overpower- 
ing numbers of the Englishmen crushed all further resistance ; and the 
flotilla was finally taken, after about one hundred of the enemy and 
fifty Americans had fallen. 

The American flotilla being thus shattered, there remained no further 
obstacle to prevent the landing of the invading army. Of the advance 
of that brilliant body of veteran troops over sands and marshes, and 
through sluggish bayous and canals half-full of stagnant water, until 
they emerged on the bank of the river, nine miles below New Orleans, it 
is not my purpose to speak further. Nor does an account of Gen. Jack- 
son's vigorous measures of defence and glorious victory come within the 



ro; BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

province of this narrative. The interesting story of Jackson's creation 
of an army from leather-shirted Kentucky riflemen, gay Creoles from the 
Creole Quarter of the Crescent City, swarthy Spaniards and mulattoes, 
nondescript desperadoes from the old band of Lafitte, and militia and 
regulars from all the Southern States, forms no part of the naval annals 
of the war. It is enough to say that the flower of the British army, led 
by a veteran of the Peninsula, recoiled before that motley crew of untrained 
soldiers, and were beaten back, leaving their gallant leader and thousands 
of their brave men dead upon the field. The navy was not without some 
share in this glorious triumph. On the 23d of December the schooner 
"Carolina" dropped down from New Orleans, and opened fire upon the 
enemy. "Now, then, for the honor of America, give it to them!" sung 
out her commander, as the first broadside was fired. The attack, unex- 
pected as it was, created a panic in the British camp. A feeble reply 
was made with rockets and musketry ; but even this was soon discontinued, 
and the enemy took refuge under the steep bank of the levee, whither 
the plunging shot could not follow them. All night the " Carolina " kept 
up her fire ; and, when at daybreak she moved away, she left the camp of 
the enemy in confusion. During the day she renewed the attack, and 
persisted in her fire until the British threw up a heavy battery on the 
river's bank, and replied. The lads of the "Carolina" promptly accepted 
the challenge thus offered, and for a time a spirited combat was maintained. 
But the battery threw red-hot shot, and the schooner was soon set on fire 
and destroyed. Meanwhile the corvette " Louisiana " had come down to 
the scene of action, and in the subsequent engagements did some effective 
work. When the final onslaught of the British was made, on Jan. 7, 181 5, 
the guns of the "Louisiana" were mounted on the opposite bank of the 
river, and the practised sailors worked them with deadly effect, until the 
light of the American militia on that side exposed the battery to certain 
capture. The sailors then spiked their guns, and marched off unmolested. 
The sailors of the "Carolina," on that day of desperate fighting, were 
in the centre of Jackson's line, between the Creoles and the swarthy 
Baratarians under Dominique Yon. Here they worked their howitzers, 
and watched the scarlet lines of the enemy advance and melt away before 
that deadly blaze ; advance and fall back again in hopeless rout. And 
among the many classes of fighting men whom Jackson had rallied before 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1 812. S^S 

that British line, none did battle more valiantly for the honor of the nation 
and the safety of the flowery city of New Orleans than did those blue- 
jackets ashore. 

It is a fitting commentary upon the folly of war, that the battle of 
New Orleans was fought after the two warring nations had signed a treaty 
of peace. The lives of some hundreds of brave Englishmen and Americans 
were needlessly sacrificed in a cause already decided. Far across the 
Atlantic Ocean, in the quaint old Dutch city of Ghent, representatives 
of England and the United States met, and, after some debate, signed the 
treaty on the 24th of December, 18 14. But there was then no Atlantic 
cable, no "ocean greyhounds" to annihilate space and time ; and it was 
months before the news of the treaty reached the scene of war. In the 
mean time, the hostilities were continued by land and sea. 

The year 181 5 found the American navy largely increased by new 
vessels, though the vigilance of the British blockaders kept most of these 
close in port. The "Constitution" was at sea, having run the blockade 
at Boston. In New York Harbor were the " President," " Peacock," 
"Hornet," and "Tom Bowline," awaiting a chance to slip out for a 
cruise to the East Indies. It was decided that the vessels should run 
out singly, and the " President " was selected to make the first attempt. 
The night of the 14th of January was dark and foggy, and the blockad- 
ing fleet was nowhere to be seen. Then, if ever, was the time for escape ; 
and the Yankee tars weighed anchor and started out through the Narrows. 
In the impenetrable darkness of the night, baflfled by head-winds and 
perplexing currents, the pilots lost their reckoning, and the orders to 
the man at the wheel were quick and nervous, until an ominous grating 
of the ship's keel, followed by the loss of headway, told that the frigate 
was aground. For a time the ship lay helpless, straining all her timbers 
as each wave lifted her slightly, and then let the heavy hull fall back 
upon the shoal. By ten o'clock the rising tide floated her off ; but, on 
examination, Capt. Decatur found that she was seriously injured. To 
return to port was impossible with the wind then blowing : so all sail 
was crowded on, in the hopes of getting safely away before the blockad- 
ing squadron should catch sight of the ship. As luck would have it, 
the blockaders had been forced from their posts by the gale of the day 
before, and the "President" had laid her course so as to infallibly fall 



5o6 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

into their clutches. Before daylight the lookout reported two sail in 
sight, and at daybreak the ship was fairly surrounded by the enemy's 
vessels. All at once gave chase to the luckless American ; and a few 
hours were enough to show that her sailing qualities were so seriously 
injured by her pounding on the bar, that the enemy was rapidly over- 
hauling her. Decatur adopted every known expedient to increase his 
ship's speed, but to no avail. After she had been lightened by starting 
the water, cutting away boats and anchors, chopping up and heaving 
overboard the ponderous cables, together with spars and provisions, the 
enemy still gained ; and the foremost pursuer, a razee, opened fire. The 
" President " responded with her stern-chasers, but her shot had no effect. 
"It is said that on this occasion," writes Cooper, "the shot of the 
American ship were observed to be thrown with a momentum so unusu- 
ally small, as to have since e.xcited much distrust of the quality of her 
gunpowder. It is even added, that many of these shot were distinctly 
seen, when clear of the smoke, until they struck." At six o'clock in 
the evening, the frigate "Endymion" led the British squadron in chase, 
and had gained a position so close upon the American's beam that her 
broadsides were rapidly crippling the fugitive. Thereupon Decatur deter- 
mined upon a desperate expedient, that sounds like some of his reckless 
exploits in the war with Tripoli. His plan was to bring the " President " 
about, and run boldly alongside the enemy. Every thing was to be 
sacrificed to the end of getting to close quarters. When once the two 
ships had grappled, the Americans were to board, carry the British ship 
in a hand-to-hand battle, and then, abandoning the crippled "President," 
escape in the captured frigate. So desperate a plan needed the cordial 
co-operation of every man : so it was first presented to the commissioned 
officers, who gladly embraced the desperate project. The sailors were 
then sent aft, and Decatur addressed them from the quarter-deck. 

"My lads," said he, "that ship is coming up with us. As our ship 
won't sail, we'll go on board of theirs, every man and boy of us, and 
carry her into New York. All I ask of you is to follow me. This is a 
favorite ship of the country. If we allow her to be taken, we shall be 
deserted by our wives and sweethearts. What, let such a ship as this 
go for nothing! 'Twould break the heart of every pretty girl in New 
York." 



BLUE-JACKKTS OF 1812. 507 

With hearty cheers, the jackies returned to their guns. All were 
ready for the coming struggle. Over the main hatch was mounted a 
howitzer, with its black muzzle peering down into the hold, ready to 
scuttle the ship when the boarders should spring upon the enemy's deck. 
The sun, by this time, had sunk below the horizon, and the darkness of 
night was gathering over the ocean. The two ships surged toward each 
other, — great black masses, lighted up on either side by rows of open 
ports, through which gleamed the uncertain. light of the battle-lanterns. 
On the gun-deck the men stood stern and silent ; their thoughts fixed 
upon the coming battle, or perhaps wandering back to the green fields 
and pleasant homes they had so recently left, perhaps forever. The gray 
old yeoman of the frigate, with his mates, walked from gun to gun, 
silently placing a well-sharpened cutlass, a dirk, and a heavy leather 
boarding-cap at each man's side. The marines were drawn up in a 
line amidships; their erect, soldierly air and rigid alignment contrasting 
with the careless slouchiness of the sailors. Butts for the sailors' ridicule 
as they were during a cruise, the marines knew that, in hand-to-hand 
conflicts, their part was as dashing as that of their tormentors of the 
forecastle. 

When the " President " had come within a quarter of a mile of her 
adversary, Decatur perceived that his enemy was determined to decide 
the contest at long range. As the " President " hauled down nearer, 
the " Endymion " sheered off, keeping up meanwhile a vigorous cannon- 
ade. To this the Americans responded in kind ; and so much superior 
was the gunnery of the Yankee tars, that the rigging of the enemy was 
seen to be fast going to pieces, while her guns were being silenced one 
by one. But her fire did sad havoc among the men of the " President," 
and particularly among the officers. The first broadside carried away 
Decatur's first lieutenant, Mr. Babbitt, who was struck by a thirty-two- 
pound shot, which cut off his right leg below the knee, and hurled him 
through the wardroom hatch to the deck below, fracturing his wounded 
leg in two places. Shortly after, Decatur was knocked to the deck by 
a heavy splinter. For some time he lay unconscious ; then opening his 
eyes, and seeing a throng of an.xious seamen about him, he ordered 
them to their stations, and resumed his duties. The fire of the "Endy- 
mion " then slackened ; and she lay upon the water, with her sails cut 



5o8 



BLUE-JACKETS OF i8i2. 



from the yards. At that moment Lieut. Howell turned to a midship- 
man standing at his side, and said gayly, "Well, we have whipped that 
ship, at any rate." A flash from the bow of the Englishman followed ; 
and he added, "No: there she is again." The midshipman turned to 
reply, and saw Howell stretched dead at his feet, killed by the last 
shot of the battle. 

The enemy was now helpless, and it would have been easy enough for 
the " President " to choose her position and compel her adversary to strike ; 
but the presence of two more Englishmen, rapidly coming up astern, forced 
the Americans to abandon their prey and continue their flight. It was 
then late in the evening, and the night was dark and starless. Every light 
was extinguished on the American frigate, in the hope that by so doing 
she might slip away under cover of the night. But the British lookouts 
were sharp-eyed ; and by eleven o'clock two frigates had closed in on the 




^n 



THE "PRESIDENT" TRIES TO ESCAPE. 



crippled ship, and a third was rapidly coming up astern. All were pouring 
in rapid broadsides, and the dark waters were lighted up like a fiery sea 
by the ceaseless flashing of the guns. Thus surrounded and overpowered, 
there remained open to the Americans no course but to surrender; and 
at eleven o'clock at night the " President " made signal that she had 
struck. Her fate, like that of the " Chesapeake," had accorded with the 



BLUE-JACKIiTS OF 1812. 509 

superstitious sailors' notion that she was an unlucky ship. In the long 
running fight, neither the Americans nor the British had escaped without 
severe loss. On the " President " were twenty-four killed and fifty-six 
wounded ; the first, second, and third lieutenants being among the slain 
The " Endymion " had eleven men killed and fourteen wounded. The two 
frigates were ordered to proceed to Bermuda; but the "President's" bad 
luck seemed to follow her, for on the way she encountered a terrific gale, 
by which her masts were carried away, and her timbers so strained that 
all the upper-deck guns had to be thrown overboard to save the ship. 

The loss of the " President," at the very mouth of the New York Harbor, 
was certainly a most inauspicious opening for the naval operations of 181 5. 
The people of New York and Philadelphia, to whom had come neither the 
news of peace nor of the glorious success of the American arms at New 
Orleans, were plunged into despondency. " Now that Great Britain is at 
peace with Europe," thought they, " she can e.xert all her power in the 
task of subjugating America ;" and mournful visions of a return to British 
rule darkened their horizon. But, even while they were thus saddened 
by Decatur's defeat, a gallant vessel — the monarch of the American 
navy — was fighting a good fight for the honor of the nation; and out of 
that fight she came with colors flying and two captive men-of-war following 
in her wake. 

It will be remembered that the " Constitution " left Boston in December, 

18 14, for an extended cruise. The gallant frigate, always a favorite among 
man-o'-war's men, carried with her on this cruise a full crew of native 
Americans, — thorough seamen, and as plucky fighters as ever pulled a 
lanyard or carried a cutlass. Her course lay due east ; and in January, 

181 5, she was in the Bay of Biscay, where she fell in with, and captureil, 
two prizes. After this she cruised about for a month, without encounter- 
ing an enemy. American privateers and cruisers had fairly driven British 
merchantmen from the seas, and the tars of the " Constitution " found 
their time hanging heavily on their hands. The captain was an able and 
considerate officer, and much freedom was allowed the jackies in their 
amusements. With boxing, broadsword, and single-stick play, drill and 
skylarking, the hours of daylight were whiled away ; and by night the 
men off duty would gather about the forecastle lantern to play with greasy, 
well-thumbed cards, or warble tender ditties to black-eyed Susans far across 



5IO BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

the Atlantic. Patriotic melodies formed no small part of Jack's musical 
repertoire. Of these, this one, written by a landsman, was for a long 
time popular among the tuneful souls of the forecastle, and was not 
altogether unknown in the wardroom. 

" Now coil up y'r nonsense 'bout England's great navy, 
And take in y'r slack about oak-hearted tars ; 
For frigates as stout, and as gallant crews have we. 

Or how came their " Macedon " decked with our stars ? 
Yes, how came her " Guerriere," her " Peacock," and " Java," 

All sent broken-ribbed to old Davy o£ late 1 
How came it ? Why, split me, than Britons we're braver ; 
And that they shall feel, too, whenever we meet. 
Then charge the can cheerily, 
Send it round merrily: 
Here's to our country, and captains commanding; 
To all who inherit 
Of Lawrence the spirit 
Disdaining to strike while a stick is left standing." 

Many were the verses of this notable production ; for, to be popular in 
the forecastle, a song must play a lengthy part in " teasing time." One 
verse, however, is enough to show the manly, if perhaps unreasoning, pride 
the blue-jackets took in the triumphs of the navy. 

But the time of the sailors on this closing cruise of the war was not 
destined to be spent in sport and singing alone. The noble frigate was 
not to return to the stagnation of a season of peace in port, without adding 
yet another honor to her already honorable record. On the morning of 
the 20th of February, as the ship was running aimlessly before a light 
wind, some inexplicable impulse led Capt. Stewart to suddenly alter 
his course and run off some sixty miles to the south-west. Again the 
" Constitution's " good luck seemed to justify the sailors' belief, for at 
noon she ran into a group of vessels. The first vessel was sighted on 
the larboard bow, and, as the frigate overhauled her, proved to be a full- 
rigged ship. Soon after a second sail, also a ship, was sighted ; and a few 
minutes more sufficed to show that both were men-of-war. The one firs', 
-.ighted was the frigate-built corvette " Cyanc," of thirty-four guns ; and the 
sjccond was the sloop-of-war " Levant," of twenty-one guns. For either ot 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 511 

these vessels singly, the " Constitution," with her fifty-two guns and crew 
of four hundred and fifty men, was more than a match. Yet to attack 
the two was a bold movement, and this Stewart determined to jnaertake. 
Hardly had the character of the strangers been made out, when the corvette 
was seen makmg signals to the sloop ; and the two vessels, then about ten 
miles apart, made all sail to get together before the enemy should overhaul 
them. This juncture was precisely what Stewart wished to prevent ; and 
in a trice the shrill notes of the boatswain's whistle sent the sailors in 
swarms into tne rigging, and the frigate was as if by magic clothed with a 
broad expanse of canvas. Quickly she felt the effect, and bounded through 
the water after the distant ships like a dolphin chasing a school of flying- 
fish. The old tars on the forecastle looked knowingly over the side at 
the foamy water rushing past, and then cast approving glances aloft where 
every sail was drawing. But their complacency was shattered by a loud 
crash aloft, which proved to be the main royal-mast which had given way 
under the strain. Another spar was rigged speedily, and shipped by the 
active tars, and soon the snowy clouds aloft showed no signs of the wreck. 
At sundown the three vessels were so near each other that their colors 
could be seen. Stewart ran up the stars and stripes, to which the strangers 
responded by setting the British flag at their mastheads. 

The purpose of the enemy was to delay the opening of the action 
until night should give him opportunity to manoeuvre unobserved ; but 
the " Constitution," suspecting this, pressed forward hotly, and opened 
fire a few minutes after six o'clock. By skilful seamanship Stewart kept 
the windward gage of both enemies ; and the fight opened with the 
"Cyane" on the port -quarter, and the "Levant" on the port-bow of 
the American frigate. Fifteen minutes of fierce cannonading followed, the 
combatants being within musket-shot most of the time. Every gun was 
engaged; and the heavy broadsides shook the ships, and thundered far 
over the placid surface of the ocean, which was now faintly illumined 
by the rising moon. The triangular space between the ships was filled 
with the dense sulphurous smoke of the burning powder; so that the 
gunners could see nothing of the enemy at whom they were hurling their 
ponderous iron bolts. The men in the tops could now and again catch a 
glimpse of the top hamper of the enemy's ships, but those on the gun- 
deck were working almost at random. After a few minutes of rapid 



512 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 



firing, the fire of the enemy slackened ; and Stewart directed his gunners 
to cease until the smoke should have cleared away. At this command a 
silence, almost oppressive after the heavy cannonading, ensued, broken 
only by the occasional report of a gun from the unseen enemy, sounding 
like minute-guns of distress. Anxiously Stewart waited for the smoke to 
blow away. When it did so, the " Cyane " was seen luffing up, to come 
under the frigate's stern, and get in a raking broadside. The movement 
was discovered just in time to be checked. Stewart gave a heavy broad- 
side to the " Levant ; " then, bracing back his topsails, backed his ship 
down abreast of the " Cyane," pouring in rapid broadsides, before which 
the fire of the corvette died away. Two raking broadsides that crashed 
into the stern of the " Levant " sent that craft out of the action, to refit. 
The frigate then pressed down upon the " Cyane," and with a few heavy 
broadsides forced her to strike. 

Capt. Douglass of the " Levant " then proved his bravery by standing 
by his captured consort ; although he could have escaped easily, while the 
'Constitution" was taking possession of her prize. No thought of flight 
<eems to have occurred to the gallant Briton, though he must have known 
that there was but little hope of his coming out of the combat victorious. 
Still he gallantly came back into the fight, meeting the " Constitution " 
ploughing along on the opposite tack. Broadsides were exchanged at such 
close range that the Yankee gunners could hear the ripping of the planks 
on the enemy's decks as the solid shot crashed through beam and stan- 
chion. Having passed each other, the ships wore, and returned to the 
attack ; but the weight of the American's metal told so severely upon 
the "Levant" that her flag was hauled down, and, firing a gun to leeward, 
she gave up the fight. 

As an exhibition of seamanship, this action is unrivalled in naval 
annals. For Stewart to have taken his ship into action with two hostile 
vessels, and so handle her as not only to escape being raked, but actu- 
ally rake his enemies, was a triumph of nautical skill. The action was 
hard fought by both parties. The loss upon the British vessels has never 
been exactly determined ; but it was undoubtedly large, for the hulls were 
badly cut up by the American's fire. The " Constitution " had but three 
men killed, and twelve wounded. The officers all escaped unhurt. 

After a few hours' pause to repair damages, Stewart took his prizes 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 513 

into Porto Praya in the Cape Verde Islands, where they arrived on the 
10th of March. The day after the ships reached port, a heavy fog settled 
over the water, cutting off vision in all directions. As the first lieutenan'-. 
of the "Constitution" was walking the ciuarter-deck, he heard a young 
midshipman among the prisoners suddenly e.xclaim, "There's a large ship 
in the offing. " The lieutenant peered about on every side, but could see 
nothing, until, looking upward, he saw the top-gallant sails of a large ship 
moving along above the fog-bank. Capt. Stewart was quickly notified ; 
and, coolly remarking that the stranger was probably a British frigate, he 
ordered that the men be sent to quarters, and the ship prepared for 
action. The lieutenant hastened on deck to execute the orders, but had 
hardly reached his station when he saw the sails of two more ships 
gliding along above the fog-bank. Hastily he returned to the captain's 
cabin with the report. Stewart showed no emotion or alarm, although 
he knew well that the fact that he was in a neutral port would be no 
protection against the British, should they once discover his presence. 
The affair of the " Esse.x " was still fresh in his mind. Calmly he ordereri 
the lieutenant to make sail and take the ship to sea, signalling to the 
two prizes to follow. The orders were given quietly on deck ; and in 
fifteen minutes the " Constitution," under full press of sail, was making 
her way out of Porto Praya roads. On the shore were more than a 
hundred prisoners whom Stewart had landed under parole. Regardless 
of the dictates of honor, these men rushed to a Portuguese battery, and 
opened fire on the ships as they passed out. Hearing the cannonade, 
the lookouts on the enemy's vessels looked eagerly for its cause, and 
caught sight, above the fog, of the rapidly receding topsails of the fugi- 
tives. At this sight the J^ritish set out in pursuit ; and the fog soon 
clearing away revealed to the Americans two ships-of-thc-line and a 
frigate following fast in their wake. The "Constitution" and the "Cyane" 
easily kept out of reach of their pursuers ; but the " Levant " dropped 
behind, and finally, at a signal from Stewart, tacked, and stood back for 
Porto Praya. The enemy then abandoned the pursuit of the two fore- 
most vessels, and followed the " Levant, " but failed to overhaul her 
before she entered the harbor. This, however, checked the British not 
a whit. For the laws of nations and the authority of the Portuguese 
flag that floated over the little town, they cared nothing. On they came, 



514 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

and opened fire on the " Levant," which had dropped anchor under what 
was supposed to be a neutral battery. The Americans soon discovered 
their error. Not only did the British disregard the neutrality of the port, 
but the paroled prisoners on shore took possession of the battery, and 
opened fire upon the beleagured craft. Thus caught betwen two fires, no 
hope remained to the Americans ; and, after a few minutes' gallant but 
useless defence, the flag of the " Levant " was hauled down, and she 
passed again into the hands of the British. 

It was late in May before the " Constitution " reached New York. 
Peace had then been declared ; but none the less were Stewart and his 
men feasted and honored. The old frigate had won for herself a name 
ever to be remembered by the people of the nation, in whose service she 
had received and dealt so many hard knocks. "Old Ironsides," they called 
her ; and even to-day, when a later war has giv.en to the navy vessels 
whose sides are literally iron, the " Constitution " still holds her place in 
the hearts of the American people, who thirwk of her lovingly by the well- 
von title of "Old Ironsides." 

While we have been following thus Stewart and his gallant frigate in 
ihcir final cruise, some smaller vessels were doing good work for the 
credit of the American flag. It will be remembered, that, when the 
" President " left New York Bay on her short and disastrous cruise of 
January, 181 5, she left behind her, at anchor, the "Peacock," the "Hornet," 
and the "Tom Bowline. These vessels, knowing nothing of the fate of 
their former consort, awaited only the coming of a gale sufficient to drive 
away the blockading squadron. On the 22d of January it came up to blow ; 
and the three craft, under storm canvas, scudded over the bar, and made 
for the rendezvous at Tristan d'Acunha. On the way thither they separated, 
the "Hornet" cruising alone. On the 23d she sighted a strange sail on 
the horizon, and, clapping on all sail, bore down upon her. At the same 
time the stranger sighted the "Hornet," and made for her, evidently with 
hostile intent. The two vessels approached each other until within musket- 
shot, when the stranger hoisted English colors, and fired a gun. Capt. 
Biddle of the American ship was ready for the fray, and opened fire with 
a broadside. The response of the enemy was vigorous and effective. For 
fifteen minutes the firing was constant ; but the enemy, seeing that the 
Americans were getting the better of the fight, then strove to close and 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 515 

board. This Biddle determined to avoid, but called up the boarders to 
beat back the enemy, should they succeed in closing. " At the instant," 
he writes, in his official report, "every officer and man repaired to the 
quarter-deck, when the two vessels were coming in contact, and eagerly 
pressed me to permit them to board the enemy ; but this I would not 
permit, as it was evident, from the commencement of the action, that 
our fire was greatly superior, both in quickness and effect. The enemy's 
bowsprit came between our main and mizzen rigging, on our starboard side, 
affording him an opportunity to board us, if such was his design ; but no 
attempt was made. There was a considerable swell on ; and, as the sea 
lifted us ahead, the enemy's bowsprit carried away our mizzen-shrouds, 
stern davits, and spanker-boom, and he hung upon our larboard quarter. 
At this moment an officer called out that they had surrendered. I directed 
the marines and musketry men to cease firing ; and while on the taffrail, 
asking if they had surrendered, I received a wound in the neck." 

This wound, to which the captain so casually alludes, merits more than 
a passing reference. The fire of both ships had ceased when Biddic 
stepped upon the taffrail ; but he had stood there only a moment, when 
two or three of the officers on the quarter-deck cried out that a man on 
the Englishman was aiming at him. Biddle did not hear the caution ; but 
two American marines saw the enemy's movement, and, quickly bringing 
up their muskets, sent two balls crashing into the brain of the English 
marksman. He fell back dead, but had fired his piece before falling. 
The bullet struck Biddle in the neck, inflicting a painful, but not serious, 
wound. The blood flowed freely, however; and two sailors, rushing up, 
were about to carry their commander to the cock-pit, when he stopped 
them. Determined to do something to stanch the flowing blood, a sailor 
tore his shirt into bandages, with which he bound up his captain's wound. 
But let us return to Biddle's narrative. 

" The enemy just then got clear of us ; and his foremast and bowsprit 
being both gone, and perceiving us wearing to give him a fresh broadside, 
he again called out that he had surrendered. It was with difficulty that I 
could restrain my crew from firing into him again, as he had certainly fired 
into us after having surrendered. From the firing of the first gun, to 
the last time the enemy cried out that he had surrendered, was exactly 
twenty-two minutes by the watch. She proved to be His Britannic Majesty's 



5i6 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

Ijrig " Penguin," mounting sixteen thirty-two-pound carronades, two long 
twelves, a twelve-pound carronade on the top-gallant forecastle, with a 
swivel on the capstan in the tops." 

On boarding the prize, Biddle found that she had suffered too severely 
from the American fire to ever be of service again. He accordingly removed 
the prisoners and wounded to his own ship, and scuttled the "Penguin." 
Hardly was this operation accomplished, when two sail were sighted, 
bearing rapidly down upon the scene of action. Nothing daunted, the 
lads of the " Hornet " went to their guns, but were heartily glad to find 
that the two vessels approaching were the "Peacock" and "Tom Bowline.'' 
On their arrival, the latter vessel was converted into a cartel, and sent 
into Rio de Janeiro with prisoners; while the "Hornet" and "Peacock" 
cruised on toward the Indian Seas. On April 28 a heavy line-of-battle 
ship was sighted, and gave chase. In the flight the two sloops parted ; the 
" Peacock " going off unmolested, while the " Hornet " fled, hotly pursued 
by the enemy. For a time it seemed as if the little craft must fall a prey 
:o her huge pursuer, which had come up within a mile, and was firing great 
shot at the scudding sloop-of-war. Overboard went cables, guns, spars, 
shot, every thing that would lighten the "Hornet." The sails were wet 
down, and every thing that would draw was set. By consummate skill 
Biddle at last succeeded in evading his pursuer ; and on the 9th of June 
the " Hornet entered New York Bay, without a boat or anchor, and with 
but one gun left. But she brought the report that the last naval battle of 
the war had ended in victory for the Americans. 

Meanwhile the "Peacock" was returning from a cruise not altogether 
void of interest. On parting with the "Hornet," she had struck off to 
the southward, and in the Straits of Sundra, between Borneo and Sumatra, 
had fallen in with the East India Company's cruiser " Nautilus," of four- 
teen guns. Between these two vessels an unfortunate and silly rencounter 
followed. The captain of the " Nautilus " knew of the declaration of 
peace ; and, as the " Peacock " bore down upon his vessel, he shouted 
through a speaking-trumpet that pe?.ce had been declared. To this 
Capt. Warrington of the " Peacock " paid no attention, considering it a 
mere ruse on the part of the enemy, and responded by simply ordering 
the British to haul down their flag. This the Englishman very properly 
refused to do, and gallantly prepared for the unequal combat. Two 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 517 

l;roadsides were then interchanged, by which the "Nautilus" was severely 
cut up, and eight of her crew killed. She then struck her colors. Capt. 
Warrington, on sending a boat aboard his adversary, found that the 
declaration of peace was no ruse, but a truthful statement of facts. His 
conduct had been almost criminally headstrong ; and, though he was 
profuse in formal apologies, the wrong done could never be righted. 
The " Peacock " then continued her homeward voyage. 

When this vessel reached port, the last of the cruisers had returned ; 
and the war was over in fact, as it had long been over technically. It 
has become the fashion to say that it was a useless war, that served no 
purpose, because the treaty by which it was ended contained no reference 
to the hateful doctrine of the right of search, which, more than any 
thing else, had brought on the conflict. Yet, though the conduct of the 
war had not led the British to formally renounce their claims in this 
respect, the exploits of the American navy had shown that the Yankee 
blue-jackets were prepared to, and would, forcibly resent any attempt on 
the part of the British to put those claims into practice. The British 
had entered upon the war gaily, never dreaming that the puny American 
navy would offer any serious resistance to Great Britain's domination 
upon the ocean. Yet now, looking back over the three years of the war, 
they saw an array of naval battles, in the majority of which the Ameri- 
cans had been victorious ; and in all of which the brilliancy of American 
naval tactics, the skill of the officers, and the courage and discipline of 
the crews, put the younger combatants on a plane with the older and 
more famous naval service. Fenlmore Cooper, in his " History of the 
Navy of the United States," thus sums up the results of this naval war : 
"The navy came out of this struggle with a vast increase of reputation. 
The brilliant style in which the ships had been carried into action, the 
iteadiness and accuracy with which they had been handled, and the fatal 
accuracy of their fire on nearly every occasion had produced a new era 
in naval warfare. Most of the frigate actions had been as soon decided 
as circumstances would at all allow ; and in no instance was it found 
necessary to keep up the fire of a sloop-of-war an hour, when singly 
engaged. Most of the combats of the latter, indeed, were decided in 
about half that time. The execution done in these short conflicts was 
often equal to that made by the largest vessels of Europe in general 



5i8 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

actions ; and, in some of them, the slain and wounded comprised a very 
large proportion of their crews. . . . The ablest and bravest captains of 
the English fleet were ready to admit that a new power was about to 
ippear upon the ocean, and that it was not improbable the battle for 
:ie mastery of the seas would have to be fought over again." 



eftl^^^d^ 




CHAPTER XVII. 



PRIVATEERS AND PRISONS OF THE WAR. — THE •' ROSSIE." — SALEM PRIVATEERS. — THE 
"GEN. ARMSTRONG" GIVES BATTLE TO A BRITISH SQUADRON, AND SAVES NEW ORLEANS. 
— NARR.\TIVE OF A BRITISH OFFICER. — THE "PRINCE DE NEUFCHATEL." — EXPERIENCES 
OF AMERICAN PRISONERS OF WAR. — THE END. 




O narrative of the naval exploits of the Americans in the second 
war with Great Britain can be complete without some account 
of the achievements of the fleets of privateers which for three 
years swept the seas, destroying a vast amount of the enemy's 
property ; and, while accomplishing their end by enriching their owners, 
did, nevertheless, much incidental good to the American cause. Seldom 
has the business of privateering been so extensively carried on as in the 
War of 1812. For this the reason lay in the rich bait offered by 
the world-wide commerce of Great Britain, whose fleets whitened every 
known sea. Privateering must ever be a weapon wielded by the weaker 

519 



520 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

nation against the stronger. And Congress, in the very Act by which it 
declared war, authorized the President to issue letters of marque and 
reprisal to private armed vessels. 

The declaration of war had hardly been made public, when the hun 
dreds of ship-yards from Maine to Savannah resounded with the blows 
of hammers and the grating of saws, as the shipwrights worked, busily 
refitting old vessels, or building new ones, destined to cruise against the 
commerce of John Bull. All sorts of vessels were employed in this 
service. The Atlantic and Gulf Coasts fairly swarmed with small pilot- 
boats, mounting one long gun amidships, and carrying crews of twenty 
to forty men. These little craft made rapid sallies into the waters of 
the Gulf Stream, in search of British West Indiamen homeward bound. 
Other privateers were huge three-masters, carrying heavy batteries, and 
able to outsail any of the enemy's ships. On leaving port for a long 
cruise, these vessels would carry enormous crews, so that captured vessels 
might be manned and sent home. After a successful cruise, such a 
privateer returned to port seldom bringing more than one-fifth of the 
crew with which she had set out. But the favorite rig for a privateer 
was that of the top-sail schooner, — such a rig as the "Enterprise" 
carried during the war with France. The famous ship-yards of Baltimore 
turned out scores of clean-cut, clipper-built schooners, with long, low 
hulls and raking masts, which straightway took to the ocean on privateer- 
ing cruises. The armament of these vessels generally consisted of si.x 
to ten carronades and one long pivot-gun, going by the pet name of 
" Long Tom," mounted amidships. T'.ie crew was usually a choice assort- 
ment of cut-throats and seafaring vagabonds of all classes, — ready enough 
to fight if plunder vvas to be gained, but equally ready to surrender if 
only honor was to be gained by fighting. Yet history records a few 
actions in which the privateersmen showed a steadiness and courage 
worthy of seamen of the regular service. 

The limitations of this work do not permit a complete account of the 
work of the privateers during the war. Although an interesting subject, 
and one of historical importance, but a few pages can be devoted to it 
here. Properly treated, it would fill a volume ; and, indeed, one of the 
most noted privateersmen has left a narrative of the exploits of the prin- 
cipal privateers, which forms a very considerable tome. The fact that 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 52 1 

two hundred and fifty private armed cruisers under the American flag 
raptured or destroyed over sixteen hundred British vessels will indicate 
the importance and extent of the subject. For us a mere sketch of the 
exploits of some of the principal privateers must sufifice. 

One of the first things to attract the attention of the reader, in 
the dingy files of some newspaper of 181 2-1 5, is the grotesque names 
under which many of the privateers sailed. The grandiloquent style 
of the regular navy vanishes, and in its place we find homely names ; 
such as "Jack's Favorite," "Lovely Lass," "Row-boat," "Saucy Jack," or 
"True-blooded Yankee." Some names are clearly political allusions, — as 
the "Orders in Council" and the "Fair Trade." The "Black Joke," the 
"Shark," and the "Anaconda" must have had a grim significance for 
the luckless merchantmen who fell a prey to the vessels bearing these 
names. "Bunker Hill" and "Divided we fall," though odd names to sail 
under, seemed to bring luck to the two vessels, which were very successful 
in their cruises. "United we stand" was a luckless craft, however, taking 
only one prize ; while the achievements of the " Full-blooded Yankee '' 
and the " Sine qua non " were equally limited. Of the " Poor Sailor,'' 
certainly little was to be expected ; and it is with no surprise that we 
find she captured only one prize. 

Among the most successful privateers was the " Rossie " of Baltimore, 
commanded by the Revolutionary veteran Capt. Barney, who left her, 
finally, to assume command of the American naval forces on Chesapeake 
Bay. She was a clipper-built schooner, carrying fourteen guns, and a 
crew of one hundred and twenty men. The destruction wrought by this 
one cruiser was enormous. In a ninety days' cruise she captured, sunk, 
or otherwise destroyed British property to the amount of a million and a 
half dollars, and took two hundred and seventeen prisoners. All this 
was not done without some hard fighting. One prize — His Britannic 
Majesty's packet-ship "Princess Amelia" — was armed with nine-pounders, 
and made a gallant defence before surrendering. Several men were 
killed, and the " Rossie " suffered the loss of her first lieutenant. Tlie 
prisoners taken by the "Rossie" were exchanged for Americans captured 
by the British. With the first body of prisoners thus exchanged, Barney 
sent a cool note to the British commander at New Brunswick, assuring 
him that before long a second batch of his captured countrymen should 
be sent in. 



522 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



Several Northern seaports shared with Baltimore the business of fitting 
out and manning privateers. The hardy seamen of Maine and Massachu- 
setts were ever ready for a profitable venture of this kind ; and, as the 
continuation of the war caused the whale-fishery to languish, the sailors 
gladly took up the adventurous life of privateersmen. The profits of a 
successful cruise were enormous ; and for days after the home-coming of 
a lucky privateer the little seaport into which she came rang with the 
boisterous shouts of the carousing sailors. " We still, in imagination, see 
our streets filled with privateersmen," writes a historian of Portsmouth, 
" in groups, with blue ribbons tied around their hats, inscribed in large 
letters, 'Success to the "Fox,"' or whatever vessel they were to sail 
in. And then another scene, of sailors paid off with so much money that 
they knew not what to do with it. It was one of these men that, in Market 
Square, put his arm around a cow, kissed her, and put a five-dollar bill 
in her mouth, for a good cud. Sometimes they might be seen, finely 
dressed, walking down the sunny streets, carrying parasols." One Ports- 
mouth privateer came to grief in the West Indies, and was captured by 
a British vessel of heavier metal. In the hold of the privateer was a 
considerable sum of money in gold coin, the existence of which was 
known only to the captain and his body-servant, a bright negro. The 
British, on capturing the vessel, put a prize-crew on board, and, while 
taking the Yankee captain upon their own ship, left his negro servant on 
the prize. Watching his opportunity, the negro brought up the gold coin, 
and dropped it unobserved into a tub of greasy black slush with which 
he had been slushing down the masts. Some days later, the captured 
vessel reached the port to which she had been sent, and was tied up at 
a wharf to await condemnation. The faithful servant lingered about the 
ship for a time, saying that he had no place to go. At last he was 
gruffly ordered to leave ; but, before going, he astonished the mate by 
begging for the tub of slush, which he said might enable him to earn a 
few cents along the docks. The mate carelessly told him to take the 
stuff, and be off ; which he promptly did, carrying away with him his tub 
of slush, with its concealed treasure. It is worthy of note, that this 
negro, far from home and from the owners of the money, paid it into a 
bank to the credit of the captain whom he had served. 

Salem, Mass, was another great port for privateers to hail from. Not 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 523 

less than twenty-five of these predatory gentry fitted out at the quiet 
little seaside village ; and, when the war was ended, few of the inhabitants 
were unable to tell some tale of personal adventures, cruising against the 
enemy. Indeed, Salem had the honor of receiving the first prize captured 
on the ocean after the declaration of war ; for into the harbor came, on 
the lOth of June, i8i2, the trim privateer schooner "Fame," followed 
close by two ships, from the halliards of which waved the British flag 
surmounted by the stars and stripes. Then the whole town turned out 
as one man to greet and cheer the captors ; but, long before the war was 
ended, the appearance of a prize in the harbor aroused little excitement. 
One of the most successful of the rovers sailing from this port was the 
"Dolphin," whose record during the war shows a list of twenty-two 
captured vessels. Her faculty for making long cruises, and turning up in 
the most unexpected places, made her the dread of all British sea-captains. 
She was manned by a gallant set of lads, who had no fear of hard 
fighting ; and many of her prizes were won at the cannon's mouth. In 
January, 18 13, the "Dolphin" fell in with a British ship and brig cruising 
together off Cape St. Vincent. Though the enemy outnumbered the 
privateersmen, and carried heavier metal, yet the " Dolphin " went gallantly 
into the fight, and after a severe battle succeeded in taking both vessels. 
Great was the astonishment of the British at being thus snapped up by 
a Yankee privateer almost under the guns of the Rock of Gibraltar. The 
luckless Britons were carried to America as prisoners ; but so kind was 
the treatment they met with at the hands of the privateers, that on 
leaving the "Dolphin," at Boston, they published a card in which they 
said, "Should the fortune of war ever throw Capt. Stafford or any of his 
crew into the hands of the British, it is sincerely hoped he will meet 
with similar treatment." 

Perhaps the foremost of all the fighting privateers was the " Gen. 
Armstrong" of New York; a schooner mounting eight long nines and 
one long twenty-four on a pivot. She had a crew of ninety men, and 
was commanded on her first cruise by Capt. Guy R. Champlin. This 
vessel was one of the first to get to sea, and had cruised for several 
months with fair success, when in March, 181 3, she gave chase to a sail 
off the Surinam River on the coast of South America. The stranger 
seemed to evince no great desire to escape ; and the privateer soon gained 



5^4 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

sufficiently to discover that the supposed merchantman was a British sloop- 
of-\var, whose long row of open ports showed that <:he carried twenty-seven 
guns. Champlin and his men found this a more ugly customer than they 
had expected ; but it was too late to retreat, and to surrender was out of 
the question : so, calling the people to the guns, Champlin took his ship 
into action with a steadiness that no old naval captain could have exceeded. 
" Close quarters and quick work," was the word passed along the gun-deck; 
and the " Armstrong " was brought alongside her antagonist at a distant 
of half pistol-shot. For nearly an hour the two vessels exchanged rapid 
broadsides ; but, though the American gunners were the better marksmen, 
the heavy build of the sloop-of-war enabled her to stand against broadsides 
which would have cut the privateer to pieces. Capt. Champlin was hit 
in the shoulder early in the action, but kept his station until the fever of 
his wound forced him to retire to his cabin. However, he still continued 
to direct the course of the action ; and, seeing that the tide of battle was 
surely going against him, he ordered the crew to get out the sweeps and 
pull away from the enemy, whose rigging was too badly cut up to enable 
her to give chase. This was quickly done ; and the " Gen. Armstrong," 
though badly injured, and with her decks covered with dead and dying 
men, escaped, leaving her more powerful adversary to repair damages and 
make the best of her way home. Capt. Champlin, on his arrival at New 
York, was the hero of the hour. For a privateer to have held out for 
an hour against a man-of-war, was thought a feat worthy of praise from all 
classes of men. The merchants of the city tendered the gallant captain a 
dinner, and the stockholders in his vessel presented him with a costly 
sword. 

But the " Gen. Armstrong " was destined to fight yet another battle, 
which should far eclipse the glory of her first. A new captain was to 
win the laurels this time ; for Capt. Champlin's wound had forced him 
to retire, and his place was filled by Capt. Samuel C. Reid. On the 26th 
of September, 18 14, the privateer was lying at anchor in the roadstead of 
Fayal. Over the land that enclosed the snug harbor on three sides, 
waved the flag of Portugal, a neutral power, but unfortunately one of 
insufficient strength to enforce the rights of neutrality. While the " Arm- 
strong " was thus lying in the port, a British squadron, composed of the 
" Plantagenet " seventy-four, the " Rota " thirty-eight, and " Carnation " 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 525 

eighteen, hove in sight, and soon swung into the harbor and dropped 
anchor. Reid watched the movements of the enemy with eager vigilance. 
He knew well that the protection of Portugal would not aid him in the 
least should the captain of that seventy-four choose to open fire upon the 
" Armstrong." The action of the British in coming into the harbor was 
in itself suspicious, and the American had little doubt that the safety of 
his vessel was in jeopardy. While he was pacing the deck, and weighing; 
in his mind the probability of an assault by the British, he caught sight 
of some unusual stir aboard the hostile ships. It was night ; but the 
moon had risen, and by its pale light Reid saw four large barges let fall 
from the enemy's ships, and, manned by about forty men each, make toward 
his vessel. In an instant every man on the privateer was called to his post. 
That there was to be an attack, was now certain ; and the Americans 
determined not to give up their vessel without at least a vigorous attempt 
to defend her. Reid's first act was to warp his craft under the guns of a 
rather dilapidated castle, which was supposed to uphold the authority of 
Portugal over the island and adjacent waters. Hardly had the position 
been gained, when the foremost of the British boats came within hail, 
and Capt. Reid shouted, " Boat ahoy ! What boat's that ? " No response 
followed the hail; and it was repeated, with the warning, "Answer, or I 
shall fire into you." Still the British advanced without responding; and 
Reid, firmly convinced that they purposed to carry his ship with a sudden 
dash, ordered his gunners to open on the boats with grape. This was done, 
and at the first volley the British turned and made off. Capt. Reid then 
warped his vessel still nearer shore ; and bending springs on her cable, so 
that her broadside might be kept always toward the enemy, he awaited 
a second attack. At midnight the enemy were seen advancing again, this 
time with fourteen barges and about five hundred men. While the flotilla 
was still at long range, the Americans opened fire upon them with the 
heavy " Long Tom ; " and, as they came nearer, the full battery of long 
nine-pounders took up the fight. The carnage in the advancing boats was 
terrible ; but the plucky Englishmen pushed on, meeting the privateer's 
fire with volleys of musketry and carronades. Despite the American fire, 
the British succeeded in getting under the bow and quarter of the " Arm- 
strong," and strove manfully to board ; while the Americans fought no less 
bravely to keep them back. The attack became a furious hand-to-hand 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1817, 



battle. From behind the boarding-nettings the Americans thrust pikes, 
and fired pistols and muskets, at their assailants, who, mounted on each 
other's shoulders, were hacking fiercely at the nettings which kept them 
from gaining the schooner's deck. The few that managed to clamber on 
the taffrail of the " Armstrong " were thrust through and through with 
pikes, and hurled, thus horribly impaled, into the sea. The fighting was 
fiercest and deadliest on the quarter ; for there were most of the enemy's 
boats, and there Capt. Reid led the defence in person. So hot was the 
reception met by the British at this point, that they drew off in dismay, 
despairing of ever gaining the privateer's deck. Hardly did Reid see the 
enemy thus foiled on the quarter, when a chorus of British cheers from the 
forecastle, mingled with yells of rage, told that the enemy had succeeded in 
effecting a lodgement there. Calling his men about him, the gallant captain 
dashed forward and was soon in the front rank of the defenders, dealing 
furious blows with his cutlass, and crying out, " Come on, my lads, and 
we'll drive them into the sea." The leadership of an officer was all 
that the sailors needed. The three lieutenants on the forecastle had 
been killed or disabled, else the enemy had never come aboard. With 
Reid to cheer them on, the sailors rallied, and with a steady advance 
drove the British back into their boats. The disheartened enemy did 
not return to the attack, but returned to their ships, leaving behind two 
boats captured and two sunk. Their loss in the attack was thirty-four 
killed and eighty-si.\ wounded. On the privateer were two killed and sev-en 
wounded. 

But the attack was not to end here. Reid was too old a sailor to expect 
that the British, chagrined as they were by two repulses, were likely to 
leave the privateer in peace. He well knew that the withdrawal of the 
barges meant not an abandonment, but merely a short discontinuance, of 
the attack. Accordingly he gave his crew scarcely time to rest, before 
he set them to work getting the schooner in trim for another battle. 
The wounded were carried below, and the decks cleared of splinters and 
wreckage. The boarding-nettings were patched up, and hung again in 
piace. " Long Tom " had been knocked off his carriage by a carronade 
shot, and had to be remounted ; but all was done quickly, and by morning 
the vessel was ready for whatever might be in store for her. The third 
assault was made soon after daybreak. Evidently the enemy despaired of 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 5^7 



his ability to conquer the privateersmen in a hand-to-hand battle ; for this 
time he moved the brig "Carnation" up within range, and opened fire upon 
the schooner. The man-of-war could fire nine guns at a broadside, while the 
schooner could reply with but seven ; but " Long Tom " proved the salva- 
tion of the privateer. The heavy twenty-four-pound shots from this gun 
did so much damage upon the hull of the brig, that she was forced to draw 
out of the action; leaving the victory, for the third time, with the 
Americans. 

But now Capt. Rcid decided that it was folly to longer continue the 
confiict. The overwhelming force of the enemy made any thought of 
ultimate escape folly. It only remained for the British to move the 
seventy-four " Plantagenet " into action to seal the doom of the Yankee 
privateer. The gallant defence already made by the Americans had cost 
the British nearly three hundred men in killed and wounded ; and Reid 
now determined to destroy his vessel, and escape to the shore. The great 
pivot-gun was accordingly pointed down the main hatch, and two heavy 
shots sent crashing through the bottom. Then applying the torch, to 
make certain the work of destruction, the privateersmen left the ship, 
giving three cheers for the gallant " Gen. Armstrong," as a burst of flame 
and a roar told that the flames had reached her magazine. 

This gallant action won loud plaudits for Capt. Rcid when the news 
reached the United States. Certainly no vessel of the regular navy 
was ever more bravely or skilfully defended than was the " Gen. Arm- 
strong." But, besides the credit won for the American arms, Reid had 
unknowingly done his country a memorable service. The three vessels 
that attacked him were bound to the Gulf of Mexico, to assist in the 
attack upon New Orleans. The havoc Reid wrought among their crews, 
and the damage he inflicted upon the " Carnation," so delayed the New 
Orleans expedition, that Gen. Jackson was able to gather those motley 
troops that fought so well on the plains of Chalmette. Had it not been 
for the plucky fight of the lads of the " Gen. Armstrong," the British 
forces would have reached New Orleans ten days earlier, and Packen- 
ham's expedition might have ended very differently. 

The " Plantagenet " and her consorts were not the only British men-of- 
war bound for New Orleans that fell in with warlike Yankee privateers. 
Some of the vessels from the Chesapeake squadron met a privateer, and 



528' BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

a contest ensued, from which the American emerged with less glory than 
did the lads of the "Gen. Armstrong." A young British officer in his 
journal thus tells the story : — 

" It was my practice to sit for hours, after nightfall, upon the taff- 
rail, and strain my eyes in the attempt to distinguish objects on shore, 
or strange sails in the distance. It so happened that on the 30th I was 
tempted to indulge in this idle but bewitching employment even beyond 
my usual hour for retiring, and did not quit the deck till towards two 
o'clock in the morning of the 31st [of October]. I had just entered my 
cabin, and was beginning to undress, when a cry from above of an enemy 
in chase drew me instantly to the quarter-deck. On looking astern I 
perceived a vessel making directly after us, and was soon convinced of 
the justice of the alarm, by a shot which whistled over our heads. All 
hands were now called to quarters, the small sails taken in ; and having 
spoken to our companion, and made an agreement as to position, both 
ships cleared for action. But the stranger, seeing his signal obeyed with 
so much alacrity, likewise slackened sail, and, continuing to keep us in 
view, followed our wake without approaching nearer. In this state things 
continued till daybreak, — we still holding our course, and he hanging 
back ; but, as soon as it was light, he set more sail and ran to windward, 
moving just out of gun-shot in a parallel direction with us. It was now 
necessary to fall upon some plan of deceiving him ; otherwise, there was 
little probability that he would attack. In the bomb, indeed, the height 
of the bulwarks served to conceal some of the men ; but in the transport 
no such screen existed. The troops were therefore ordered below ; and 
only the sailors, a few blacks, and the officers kept the deck. The same 
expedient was likewise adopted in part by Capt. Price of the ' Volcano ; ' 
and, in order to give to his ship a still greater resemblance than it 
already had to a merchantman, he displayed an old faded scarlet ensign, 
and drew up his fore and main sail in what sailors term a lubberly 
manner. 

" As yet the stranger had shown no colors, but from her build and rig- 
ging there was little doubt as to her country. She was a beautiful schooner, 
presenting seven ports of a side, and apparently crowded with men, — cir- 
cumstances which immediately led us to believe that she was an American 
privateer. The 'Volcano,' on the other hand, was a clumsy, strong-built 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1 812. 5^9 



ship, carrying twelve guns; and the 'Golden Fleece' mounted eight: so 
that in point of artillery the advantage was rather on our side ; but the 
American's sailing was so much superior to that of either of us, that this 
advantage was more than counter-balanced. 

"Having dodged us till eight o'clock, and reconnoitred with great exact- 
ness, the stranger began to steer gradually nearer and nearer, till at length 
it was judged that she was within range. A gun was accordingly fired 
from the 'Volcano,' and another from the transport ; the balls from both 
ot which passed over her, and fell into the sea. Finding herself thus 
assaulted, she now threw off all disguise, and hung out an American 
ensign. When putting her helm up, she poured a broadside with a volley 
of musketry into the transport, and ran alongside of the bomb, which sailed 
to windward. 

" As soon as her flag was displayed, and her intention of attacking 
discerned, all hands were ordered up ; and she received two well-directed 
broadsides from the ' Volcano,' as well as a warm salute from the 'Golden 
Fleece.' But such was the celerity of her motion, that she was alongside cf 
the bomb in less time than can be imagined, and actually dashing her bow 
against the other, attempted to carry her by boarding. Capt. Price, how- 
ever, was ready to receive them. The boarders were at their posts in an 
instant ; and Jonathan finding, to use a vulgar phrase, that he had caught 
a Tartar, left about twenty men upon the ' Volcano's ' bowsprit, all of whom 
were thrown into the sea, and filling his sails sheered off with the same 
speed with which he had borne down. In attempting to escape, he unavoid- 
ably fell somewhat to leeward, and exposed the whole of his deck to the fire 
of the transport. A tremendous discharge of musketry saluted him as he 
passed ; and it was almost laughable to witness the haste with which his 
crew hurried below, leaving none upon deck except such as were absolutely 
wanted to work the vessel. 

"The 'Volcano' had by this time filled and gave chase, firing with 
great precision at his yards and rigging, in the hope of disabling him. 
But, as fortune would have it, none of his important ropes or yards were 
cut ; and we had the mortification to see him in a few minutes beyond our 
reach." 

An exploit of yet another privateer should be chronicled before the sub- 
ject of the private armed navy can be dismissed. On the nth of October, 



53° 



BLUE-JACKETS OF i5i2. 



1.S14, the brigantinc privateer "Prince de Neufchatel," seventeen pjuns, was 
encountered near Nantucket by the British frigate " Endymion," — the same 
ship which was so roughly handled by the " President " in her last battle. 
About nine o'clock at night, a calm having come on, the frigate despatched 



a boarding party of a hundred and eleven 

ture the privateer. The latter vessel was 

forty men ; but this handful of Yankee tars 

the attack. The guns were charged with 

boarding-nettings triced up, and cutlasses 

tTie crew. As the British came on, the 

notwithstanding which the enemy dashed 

fiercely to gain the deck. 

But in this they were 

foiled by the gallantry 

of the defenders, who 

fought desperately, 

ind cut dovvn the 

few British who 

managed to gain 

a foothold. The 

conflict was 

short, and the 

discomfiture 

of the ene- 

mv 

plefe 



men in five boats to cap- 
shorthanded, having but 
gallantly prepared to meet 
grape and canister, the 
and pistols distributed to 
Americans opened fire, 
alongside, and strove 




PRISON CH.\PLAIN AND JAILOR. 

After but a few minutes' fighting, one boat was sunk, one captured, and 
the other three drifted helplessly away, filled with dead and dying. The 
total loss of the British in this affair was twenty-eight killed and thirty- 
seven wounded. Of the crew of the privateer, seven were killed, and nine 
only remained unhurt. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 531 

A narrative of the exploits of, and service done by, the American 
sailors in the War of 18 12 would be incomplete if it said nothing of 
the sufferings of that great body of tars who spent the greater part 
of the war season confined in British prisons. Several thousand of these 
were thrown into confinement before the war broke out, because they 
refused to serve against their country in British ships. Others were 
prisoners of war. No exact statistics as to the number of Americans 
thus imprisoned have ever been made public ; but the records of one 
great prison — that at Dartmoor — show, that, when the war closed, six 
thousand American seamen were imprisoned there, twenty-five hundred 
of whom had been detained from long before the opening of the war, on 
account of their refusal to join the ranks of the enemy. As I write, 
there lies before me a quaint little book, put out anonymously in 18 15, 
and purporting to be the "Journal of a Young Man captured by the 
British." Its author, a young surgeon of Salem, named Waterhouse, shipped 
on a Salem privateer, and was captured early in the war. His experience 
with British prisons and transport-ships was long; and against his jailors 
he brings shocking charges of brutality, cruelty, and negligence. 

The Yankee seamen who were captured during the war were first 
consigned to receiving-prisons at the British naval stations in America. 
Sometimes these places of temporary detention were mouldering hulks, 
moored in bays or rivers ; sometimes huge sheds hastily put together, and 
in which the prisoners were kept only by the unceasing vigilance of 
armed guards. "The prison at Halifax," writes Waterhouse, "erected 
solely for the safe -keeping of prisoners of war, resembles an horse-stable, 
with stalls, or stanchions, for keeping the cattle from each other. It is 
to a contrivance of this sort that they attach the cords that support those 
canvas bags or cradles, called hammocks. Four tier of these hanging 
nests were made to hang, one above the other, between these stalls, or 
stanchions. . . . The general hum and confused noise from almost every 
hammock was at first very distressing. Some would be lamenting theii 
hard fate at being shut up like negro slaves in a Guinea ship, or like 
fowls in a hen-coop, for no crime, but for fighting the battles of their 
country ; others, late at night, were relating their adventures to a new 
prisoner ; others, lamenting their aberrations from rectitude, and disobe- 
dience to parents, and headstrong wilfulness, that drove them to sea, 



532 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

contrary to their parents' wish ; while others, of the younger class, were 
sobbing out their lamentations at the thoughts of what their mothers 
and sisters suffered after knowing of their imprisonment. Not unfrc- 
qucntly the whole night was spent in this way ; and when, about day- 
l;icak, the weary prisoner fell into a doze, he was waked from his slumber 
by the grinding noise of the locks, and the unbarring of the doors, with 
the cry of 'Turn out! All out!' when each man took down his ham- 
mock, and lashed it up, and slung it on his back, and was ready to answer 
to the roll-call of the turnkey." 

F"rom prisons such as this, the prisoners were conveyed in droves to 
England, in the holds of men-of-war and transports. Poorly fed, worse 
housed, and suffering for lack of air and room, their agony on the 
voyage was terrible. When they were allowed a few hours' time on deck, 
they were sure to arouse the anger of tlie officers by turbulent conduct 
or imprudent retorts. " One morning as the general and the captain of 
the ' Rcgulus ' (transport) were walking as usual on the quarter-deck, one 
of our Yankee boys passed along the galley with his kid of burgoo. He 
rested it on the hatchway while he adjusted the rope ladder to descend 
with his swill. The thing attracted the attention of the general, who asked 
the man how many of his comrades eat of that quantity for their breakfast. 
'Six, sir,' said the man, 'but it is fit food only for hogs.' This answer 
affronted the captain, who asked the man in an angry tone, ' What part of 
America he came from ? ' ' Near to Bunker Hill, sir, if you ever heard 
of that place,' was the answer." On another occasion, a Yankee and a 
slightly wounded British marine got into a dispute, and came to blows. 
The British captain saw the occurrence, and accused the American of 
cowardice 'n striking a wounded man. " I am no coward, sir," said the 
Yankee. " I was captain of a gun on board the ' Constitution ' when she 
captured the 'Guerriere,' and afterward when she took the 'Java.' Had I 
been a coward, I should not have been there." 

On one occasion the prisoners on the transport " Crown Prince," lying 
in the River Medway, took an uncontrollable dislike to the commander of 
a second transport lying close alongside. Their spite was gratified quickly 
and with great effect. The rations served out to the luckless captives at 
that time consisted of fish and cold potatoes. The latter edible being of 
rather poor quality, the prisoners reserved for missiles ; and the obnoxious 



T;LUf:-JACKETS OF 1812. 533 



officer could not pace his qiuitcr-dcciv without being made a mark for a 
shower of potatoes. Vainly did he threaten to call up his marines and 
respond with powder and lead : the Americans were not to be kept down ; 
and for some days the harassed ofificer hardly dared to show himself upon 
deck. 

The place of final detention for most of the prisoners taken in the war 
with America was Dartmoor Prison ; a rambling collection of huge frame 
buildings, surrounded by double walls of wood. The number of prisoners 
confined there, and the length of time which many of them had spent 
within its walls, gave this place many of the characteristics of a small 
State, with rulers and ofiScials of its own. One of the strangest characters 
of the prison was King Dick, a gigantic negro, who ruled over the five 
or six hundred negro prisoners. " He is si.x feet five inches in height," 
says one of the prisoners, "and proportionally large. This black Hercules 
commands respect, and his subjects tremble in his presence. He goes 
*.he rounds every day, and visits every berth, to see if they all are kept 
clean. When he goes the rounds, he puts on a large bear-skin cap, and 
carries in his hand a huge club. If any of his men are dirty, drunken, 
or grossly negligent, he threatens them with a beating ; and if they are 
saucy they are sure to receive one. They have several times conspired 
against him, and attempted to dethrone him ; but he has aKvays conquere 1 
the rebels. One night several attacked him while asleep in his hammock : 
he sprang up, and seized the smallest by his feet, and thumped another 
with him. The poor negro, who had thus been made a beetle of, was 
carried the next day to the hospital, sadly bruised, and provokingly 
Jaughed at." King Dick, to further uphold his dignity as a monarch, had 
ills private chaplain, who followed his royal master about, and on Sundays 
preached rude but vigorous sermons to His Majesty's court. On week- 
days the court was far from being a dignified gathering. King Dick was 
a famous athlete, and in the cock-loft, over which he reigned, was to be 
seen fine boxing and fencing. Gambling, too, was not ruled out of the ro)al 
list of amusements ; and the cries of the players, mingled with the singing 
of the negroes, and the sounds of the musical instruments upon which they 
played, made that section of the prison a veritable pandemonium. 

But although some few incidents occurred to brighten momentarily the 
dull monotony of the prisoners' lot, the life of these unfortunate men, 



531 



bluf:-jackh IS of 1812. 



while thus imprisoned, was miserable and hateful to them. Months 
passed, and evv.:n years, but there seemed to be no hope for release. 
At last came the news of the declaration of peace. How great then 
was the rejoicing! Thoughts of home, of friends and kindred, flooded 
the minds of all ; and even strong men, whom the hardships of prison- 
life had not broken down, seemed to give way all at orice to tears of 
joy. But the delays of official action, "red-tape," and the sluggishness 




THE LAST VOLLEY 01' THE WAR. 



. / travel in that day, kept the poor fellows pent up for months after 
the treaty of peace had been announced to them. Nor were they to 
escape without suffering yet more severely at the hands of their jadors. 
Three months had passed since peace had been declared ; and the long 
delay so irritated the prisoners, that they chafed under prison restraint, 
and showed evidences of a mutinous spirit. The guards, to whom was 
intrusted the difficult task of keeping in subjection six thousand impatient 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 



535 



and desperate men, grew nervous, fearing that at any moment the horde 
of prisoners would rise and sweep away all before them. An outbreak 
was imminent ; and the prisoners were like a magazine of gunpowder; 
needing but a spark of provocation to explode. On April 6, 1815, matters 
reached a crisis. The soldiers, losing all presence of mind, fired on the 
defenceless Americans, killing five men and wounding thirty four. Thus 
the last blood shed in the War of 1812 was the blood of unarmed prisoners. 
But the massacre, horrible and inexcusable as it was, had the effect of 
hastening the release of the survivors ; and soon the last of the captives- 
was on his way home to the country over which peace at last reigned 



"^-^ 









CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE LONG PEACE BROKEN BY THE WAU WITH MEXICO. — ACTIVITY OF THF 

NAVY. CAPTAIN STOCKTON's STRATAGEM. THE BATTLE AT SAN JOSE 

THE BLOCKADE. INSTANCES OF PERSONAL BRAVERY. — THE LOSS OF 

THE "tRUXTON." — YELLOW FEVER IN THE SQUADRON. THE NAVY AT 

VERA CRUZ — CAPTURE OF ALVAKADO. 




f^3^HE period of peace which followed the close of the War of 1S12 
was, perhaps, the longest which any nation has ever enjoyed. For 
the navy of the United States, it was a time of absolute peace, 
inactivity, even stagnation. The young nation was living literally 
up to Washington's rule of avoiding entanglements abroad, and its people 
looked with suspicion on the naval branch of the ser\'ice which had rendered 
such a good account of itself in the war with Great Britain. They feared to 
build and man ships lest possession of a navy might prove an incentive to 
war. And so when war did come — war, not with F.iirope, but with our 
nearest neighbor — the United States had little floating force to join in it. 
Fortunately, little was needed. 

Though war was not declared by the United States against Mexico until 
May, 1846, it had been a possibility ever since the establishment of the 
Te.xan Republic by the defeat of the Mexicans at San Jacinto in 1834, and 
it had been a great probability since 1841, when it was discovered that both 
England and France were holding out prospects of assistance to the Mcxi 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 537 

cans in case of conflict with the United States. Neither of these European 
powers was sincere in the diplomatic game which deceived the proud but 
ignorant Mexicans, but neither did either of them scruple to foment a quar- 
rel out of which some selfish, though indefinite, advantage might be gained. 
Indeed they played the diplomatic game so skilfully that they deceived a 
considerable minority in the United States and made these believe that the 
admission of Texas to the United States would be unwise and inexpedient, 
and the probable war with Mexico a wickedness dire and dreadful. Even 
General Grant, when he wrote his book, said that such were his views at the 
time, though he was then an army officer and trusting to war for advance- 
ment. But when hostilities were begun, and victory for American arms fol- 
lowed victory, the protests of the peace party were unheard amid the enthu- 
.'uastic shoutings of those who took a saner view of the conditions which led 
lo the conflict. 

Mexico claimed title not only to Texas, but to California, and if the 
United States had not gone to war in regard to the former, she would have 
had to do so in defence of her conquest of the latter. In securing California 
the navy bore a conspicuous part, and as early as 1 842, Captain Thomas 
Ap-Catesby Jones, commanding the Pacific squadron, was as active as 
though war had already been declared. In September of that year, with 
his squadron of four ships, he was at anchor in the harbor of Callao, and 
noticing the suspicious conduct of the British frigate " Dublin," which 
shoved off the port and then bore away, he concluded to follow her and see 
just what game she sought, as he had been informed by the Navy Depart- 
ment that ICngland was plotting in Mexico against the United States ; he 
had also read in a Mexican newspaper that war was likely to be declared, if 
indeed hostilities had not already begun. Captain Jones reached Monterey 
on the 19th of October, and though he saw nothing of the " Dublin," he at 
once insisted on the surrender of the place. The next day he learned that 
his action had been premature and made what amends he could. So the 
navy really struck the first official blow that led to this war. 

When war had been declared, the Pacific squadron did not learn of it 
until after the victories of Palo Alto and Rcsaca de la Palma. Captain 
Sloat, in command, at once took prompt action. Landing two hundred and 
fifty seamen and marines under Captain Mcrvine, he captured Monterey oa 



538 ELUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 

the 2cl of July. A week l:iter he formally took possession of the splendid 
bay of San Francisco and the neighboring country. He also occupied Sutter's 
Fort, on Sacramento River, and the towns of Bodega and Sonoma. In this 
war it will be noticed throughout this narrative that the naval forces were con- 
stantly required to do shore duty, a duty to which they were unaccustomed 
but which they performed with entire efficiency. The Mexicans had no navy 
worthy of the name and the American sailors were auxiliary to the soldiers. 
Though untrained to this kind of service, and though it was always hard, and 
sometimes quite ungrateful, they responded to orders with entire cheerful- 
ness; when the service was most perilous then the blue-jackets entered upon 
it with a gayety that laughed at danger. 

On the 19th of July, Fremont and his corps of topographical engineers met 
Captain Sloat and thereafter co-operated with him. In the " Cyane," Com- 
mander Du Pont, Fremont was sent to San Diego with one hundred and fifty 
riflemen and that place was occupied. On the 30th of July, the " Congress" 
took possession of San Pedro, the port of Los Angeles, the seat of the Mex- 
ican government in California. About this time the command of the Pacific 
squadron devolved upon Captain Robert F. Stockton, who was not a whit less 
vigilant than his predecessors had been. Having all the California seaports. 
Captain Stockton planned an expedition against Los Angeles before the well- 
armed Mexican soldiers in the province could be brought together. He 
landed three hundred and fifty sailors and marines and established a camp at 
San Pedro. Captain Stockton's biographer says : " There were only about 
ninety muskets in the whole corps. Some of the men were armed with car- 
bines, others had onlv pistols, swords, or boarding-pikes. They presented a 
motley and peculiar appearance, with great variety of costume. Owing to 
their protracted absence from home the supplies of shoes and clothing had 
fallen short, and the ragged and diversified colors of their garments, as well as 
the want of uniformity in their arms and accoutrements, made them altogether 
a spectacle both singular and amusing." The Mexican forces at Los Angeles 
outnumbered Captain Stockton's land forces three to one, so he resorted to a 
stratagem to deceive the enemy as to his force. A flag of truce having ap- 
peared on the hills, " he ordered all his men under arms and directed them 
to march three or four abreast, with inter\-als of considerable space between 
each squad, directly in the line of vision of the approaching messengers, to 



BLUE- JACKETS OF 1812. 539 

the rear of some buildings on the lieach, and thence to turn in a circle and 
continue their march until the strangers had arrived. Part of the circle de- 
scribed in the march was concealed from view, so that to the strangers it would 
appear that a force ten times greater than the actual number was defiling 
before them. When the two bearers of the flag of truce had arrived he 
ordered them to be led up to him alongside of the artiller)-, which consisted 
of several six-pounders and one thirty-tvvo-pound carronade. The guns 
were all covered with skins so as to conceal their dimensions except the huge 
mouth of the thirty-two-pounder at which the captain was stationed to receive 
his guests. . . . As his purpose was intimidation he received them with 
much sternness." They asked for a truce, but Stockton demanded and 
secured an immediate and absolute surrender, as the evident object of the 
Mexicans was to gain time. Stockton at once began his tedious march to Los 
Angeles, his men dragging the cannon through the sand.. On the 12th of 
August, he received a message from the Mexican general, saying " if he 
marched on the town he would find it the grave of his men." He replied: 
"Then tell your general to have the bells ready to toll at eight o'clock in the 
morning. I shall be there at that time." He was as good as his word. I'he 
next morning he was joined by Fremont and his men, who had come up from 
San Diego and they entered I^os Angeles unopposed. He organized a civil 
government for the entire state, with Major Fremont as the head of it, and 
returning to his ships sailed northward on the 5th of September, 1846. The 
news of these operations was sent to Washington overland by the famous 
scout. Kit Car.son. 

Meantime the other ships of the Pacific squadron were cruising along 
the coast and capturing everything with a semblance of Mexican ownership. 
But Captain Stockton was much disconcerted in October to learn that two 
Mexican generals, released on parole after the fall of Los Angeles, had 
gathered a force and were besieging the small garrison there. The " Savan- 
nah" at once went to the scene. At San Pedro it was learned that the gar- 
rison had been compelled to capitulate and was awaiting an American cruiser. 
Captain Mcrvine, of the " Savannah," landed a detachment of sailors and ma- 
rines and began the march to the capital. He could not cope with the su- 
perior force and had to retire. Indeed nearly all the places captured by the 
active sailors seemed likely now to fall into the hands of the Mexicans again. 



540 IlLUE-JACKETS OF :8i2. 



The garrison at Monterey was threatened by an uprising of the people ; the 
garrison at San Diego was besieged ; Los Angeles was in the hands of the 
enemy, and the force at the enemy's camp at San Bernardino was getting 
stronger each day. But Captain Stockton was equal to all demands upon 
him and made up for inadequate forces by celerity of movement. Just when 
matters were most critical the naval forces learned of the repulse of General 
Stephen Kearny by the Mexicans under Pico. It was indeed with great 
difficulty that Kearny and his dragoons were rescued by the sailors from 
their invested position near San Bernardino. 

Having got what men he could together, Captain Stockton determined to 
recapture Los Angeles. On the 29th of December, 1 846, he began his march 
of 145 miles to the capital. There were no roads, but the route was through 
deep ravines, sand-hills, and deserts. The men were poorly armed and badly 
clothed, and there were few horses to assist in drawing the artillery. Never 
did an American commander have before him a more disagreeable prospect. 
The men, many of them without foot-covering, became worn-out in the 
march and begged to rest, but the captain insisted that they must go on, as 
the Mexicans were getting stronger every day. The men responded as best 
they could. 

On the 7th of January, the intrepid Stockton found that the enemy was 
intrenched between him and the San Gabriel River. The Mexican general 
changed his mind and crossed the river with the object of interrupting the 
crossing. But Stockton would not be denied, and repulsed the enemy on 
every side, though outnumbered three to one. This was on the 8th of Janu- 
ary, the anniversary of the battle of New Orleans. The next day he fought 
again, resisting Three furious charges of the enemy. On the lothhe entered 
Los Angeles unopposed, and on the 15th he was joined there by Fremont and 
his corps. These seaports in California were not seriously harassed during 
the remainder of the war, but they needed to be garrisoned, while the whole 
coast required watching. A part of the .squadron was sent south and also 
into the Bay of California. Before the end of 1S47 every Mexican gun on 
the western coast, save those at Acapulco, had been silenced. Loreto, La 
Paz, Mazatlan, San Bias, Manzanilla, San Antonio, Guaymas, and Mulye 
fell to the .squadron. Sometimes it only needed for a ship or two to appear 
before a town and it would surrender, but generally an assault or the 



BLUE JACKETS OF iSi- 54' 



appearance of a storming party on land was necessary. But the seamen and 
marines were always invincible in this part of the war, where they were 
entirely without aid from the army. 

The most serious predicament in which the Americans found themscl\e;i 
in this Pacific Coast campaign was when Lieutenant Heywood, of the " Dale, " 
with four midshipmen and twenty marines, were shut up in the Mission 
House at San Jose, a small village near San Lucas. He was surrounded by a 
large force before he knew it, and two of his midshipmen were taken unawares 
and captured by an enemy not known to be near. Lieutenant Heywood main- 
tained himself from the 19th of November, 1847, till the 17th of February, 
1848, when Commander Du Pout, in the "Cyane, " came to his rescue. A 
party of ninety-four seamen and marines, under Lieutenant Rowan, went 
ashore and fought its way against si.x hundred Mexicans until they were de- 
feated and Heywood and his men rescued. There was nothing after thi? 
on the western coast more serious than guerilla forays. 

The operations on the western coast were probably, in result, much more 
important than those of the home squadron in the Mexican Gulf and the 
Rio Grande River. But the latter squadron was the larger, and as it was ir 
constant co-operation with the conquering armies which finally captured the 
capital of the country, much more has been heard of the doings of the fleet 
in the east, which was at first commanded by Commodore David Conner and 
then by Commodore Matthew C. Perry. The operations on this coast also 
came in for much criticism, for the various ships were filled with young men 
overflowing with valor and mad v/ith desire of glory. They were also com- 
paratively close to home and saw the newspapers from New York, Washing- 
ton, and New Orleans. In these papers the army was accorded nil the glory 
while the navy was almost ignored. This neglect rankled in the minds of the 
madcaps, and they blamed Commodore Conner, an officer of much experience 
and distinguished record, for not storming every fort and citadal near the 
coast instead of carrying out his instructions to maintain an efficient block- 
ade of the ports and to co-operate with the arm\- whenever possible. These 
duties, tiresome and inglorious as they seemed, were of the first importance 
to the scheme of the campaign, and they were performed with a patience 
which rose superior to weariness, sickness, and death. The duty required of 
the blockaders did not require much fighting, but the men were in danger of 



t;42 BLUE-JACKF.TS OF iSi 



the coast fevers all the time, and hundreds died. And then at some seasons 
the fleet was likely to be blown ashore by the fierce " northers" which pre- 
i'ailed. Many accidents resulted during these storms, the most serious being 
Ihe capsizing of the brig " Somers," Lieutenant Raphael Semmes (afterward 
commanding the Confederate ship "Alabama") commanding, and the loss 
of more than half her crew. 

When the war began at Palo Alto, Commodore Conner was with his 
squadron off Point Isabel, at the mouth of the Rio Grande River. Not 
knowing the issue of the battle, five hundred seamen and marines were sent 
to strengthen the garrison at Point Isabel, where the army supplies were 
stored, while Captain Aulick, of the " Potomac," with two hundred men, pulled 
up the Rio Grande in boats for fifteen miles and until a junction with the 
army was established at Barita. At this time the squadron consisted of the 
frigates "Cumberland" (flagship), "Potomac," and " Raritan" ; the steam 
frigate "Mississippi"; the sloops-of-war " Palmouth," "John Adams, " and 
" St. Mary's" ; the steam-sloop " Princeton" ; and the brigs " Lawrence," 
' Porpoise, " and " Somers." Before the close of the war some of these ships 
were recalled, at least one was wrecked, and the squadron was from time to 
time largely reinfc-ced. 

The squadron, now that war had begun, was ordered to blockade the ports 
of Matamoras, on the Rio Grande; Tampico, on the Tampico River; Alvar- 
ado, on the Alvarado ; Coatzalcoalcos, on the river of the same name ; Tabasco, 
on the Tabasco River; and Vera Cruz, on the Gulf. The rivers mentioned, 
except the Rio Grande, are mere creeks, not fit for vessels of any size, and 
their mouths simply open roadsteads. Vera Cruz was the only place with 
anything like a harbor. The ports in Yucatan, such as Laguna and Cam 
peachy, were only visited for supplies of fresh meat. The State of Yucatan 
'was not assisting in the war and did not need to be blockaded. By the time 
General Taylor took possession of Matamoras, Commodore Conner's fleet had 
been considerably augmented by the addition of the sloops-of-war " German 
town," "Albany," "Saratoga" and "Decatur"; the steamers "Spitfire," 
" V^i.xen," "Alleghany," ".Scorpion" and " .Scourge" ; the brig " Tru.xton" ; 
the gunboats "Reefer," "Bonita," and "Rebel." A little later, and just 
before the bombardment of Vera Cruz, the "Ohio," with .seventy-four guns, 
joined, together with the bomb-vessels " Vesuvius," "Hecla, " and "Strom 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 543 

boli." There were also a number of small .steamers and gimboats to operate 
in shallow water. These constituted what was called the "mosquito fleet." 
With so formidable a fleet the sailors felt they were equal to anything, and 
whenever a larger part of it was operating at one place, it was difficult to 
restrain the men. The youngsters even thought Commodore Conner's pru- 
dence and conservatism to be timidity, and the v.riter has before him now 
a book written twenty-five years after these events, by one who was a mid 
shipman on the flagship, and he quotes the familiar lines about daring to 
put things to the touch. All this was most unfair, but it indicated that the 
blue jackets of the Mexican War were buttoned o\er hearts that knew no 
fear. 

The blockade of the Mexican ports that was maintained was not by any 
means a paper blockade. It was actual, and the very opposite of the merely 
formal closing of ports which the United States had so long protested against 
in other countries. The hardships of the men and officers were fearful and 
the casualties very great. The tediousness of the sen'ice was relieved now 
and again by daring expeditions into the rivers and ports, where boats were 
cut out and taken away from beneath batteries on shore. The record of such 
ventures shows that the navy in 1846 and 1847 was no whit inferior in 
dash to the one which made the flag glorious some years before in the war 
with England. One instance of such a venture is quoted from the " Recol- 
lections of a Naval Officer," by Captain William Harwar Parker. He was 
telling of the blockade at Vera Cruz in 1S46. He says: "One of the 
finest fellows in the ser\'ice T often met on Green Island. I allude to 
Passed Midshipman Hynson, of Maryland. He was drowned in the brig 
'Somers,' when she capsized in the fall of this year. At the time of her 
sinking, Hynson had both of his arms bandaged and in a sling, and was 
almost helpless. It was said that wh^n the brig sank ho managed to get 
hold of a spar with another man, and finding it would not support two he 
deliberately let go his hold. It was like him. The way he happened to 
have his arm in a sling was this: While the 'Somers' was maintaining the 
blockade of Vera Cruz, a vessel managed to slip in — I think she was a 
Spanish schooner. The Mexicans moored her to the walls of the Castle of 
San Juan for safety; but the officers of the 'Somers ' resolved to cut her out 
or burn her. Hynson was the leading spirit in the affair, though Lieu- 



544 BLUE JACKETS OF 1S12. 

tenant James Parker, of Pennsylvania, was the senior officer. They took a 
boat one afternoon and pulled in to \ isit the officers of an English man-of- 
war lying under Sacrificios Island. It was quite usual to do this. After 
nightfall they left the I5ritish ship and pulled directly for the schoonei', 
which they boarded and carried. This, be it observed, was directly under 
the guns of the castle and the muskets of its garrison. The crew was 
secured, and finding the wind would not serve to take the vessel out, it was 
resolved to burn her. Her captain made some resistance, and the sentinel 
on the walls called out to know what was the matter. Parker, who spoke 
Spanish remarkably well, replied that his men were drunk and he was put- 
ting them in irons. The party then set lire to the vessel and got safely 
away with their prisoners. It was in setting lire to the schooner that Hyn- 
son got so badly burned." 

In regard to the personal heroism shown by Hynson and others when tlie 
" .Somers" went down. Lieutenant Raphael .Semmes, in his book, " Service 
»Af]oat and Ashore During the Mexican War," said : " Those men who could 
not swim were selected to go into the boat. A large man by the name of 
Seymour, the ship's cook, having got into her, he was commanded by Lieu- 
tenant Parker to come out, in order that he might make room for two 
smaller men, and he obeyed the order. He was afterward permitted to 
return to her, however, when it was discovered that he could not swim. 
Passed Midshipman Hynson, a promising young officer, who had been 
partially disabled by a bad burn received in firing the 'Creole' a few days 
previously, was particularly implored to go into the boat. A lad by the 
name of Nutter jumped out of the boat and offered his place to Hynson, 
and a man by the name of Powers did the same thing. Hynson refusing 
both offer.s, these men declared that then others might take their places, as 
they were resolved to abide in the wreck with him. Hynson and Powers 
were drowned. Nutter was saved. When the plunge was made into the 
sea, Sailing-Mastcr Clemson seized a studding-sail boom, in company with 
five of the seamen. Being a swimmer, and perceiving that the boom was 
not sufficiently buoyant to suppport them all, he left it and struck out 
alone. He perished — the five m.en were saved." 

Just about this time the first of the gunboats reached the .squadron, and 
the young men of the steerage were intensely amused at the small ness of the 



BLUE-JACKKTS OF 1S12. 545 



vessel. A midshipiv.ar. from the flagship visited the " Reefer." He went 
alongside of her in the barge, ar.d, not knowing ary Ijetter, stepped over her 
port-quarter. Lieutenant Sterrett, in command, said in his least gentle 
voice: "Sir, there is a gang\vay to this vessel!" Before long even th.c 
youngsters learned to respect these little steamers. Commodore Connei 
now made an e.vpedition to capture Alvarado, but just as he was about ready 
to begin a bombardment his pilots predicted a "norther," and he hoisted 
the signal, " Return to the anchorage off Vera Cruz." This was popularly 
regarded as a fiasco, but doubtless the Commodore was entirely right, as 
Alvarado might be taken at any time, and subsequently was taken in a 
manner which has been a joke in the navy ever since. Of this something 
will presently be said. Tampico, a town of 7,000 inhabitants, 210 miles 
north of Vera Cruz, was next proceeded against. The bar at the mouth of 
the Tampico River is considered the most dangerous on the coast, and the 
larger vessels did not try to cross it. l^ut the smaller steamers and gun- 
boats of the "mosquito fleet" went in, and the town was surrendered with- 
out firing a shot. It was then occupied by the army. The next movemei ; 
was against Frontera, at the mouth of the Tabasco River, and Tabasco, some 
seventy miles up that little stream. Frontera was taken by surprise, and 
Commodore Perry, now second in command to Commodore Conner, moved 
up the stream with vessels of too heavy draught. He came near losing the 
" Cumberland" in the mud, and, as it was, she was so disabled that when 
.';he was pulled from her perch on a bar she had to be sent home for repairs. 
Perry, however,, defeated the Mexican flotilla and captured all the boats. 
Two of the prizes had to be blown up, but the " Champion," a fast river 
boat, which had run between Richmond and Norfolk, was taken out and 
after.vard usefully employed as a despatch-boat. In this expedition there 
was considerable fighting and also some losses both of officers and men. 

In blockading the port of Tuspan, some 120 miles northwest of Vera 
Cruz, the brig "TRi.xton, " Captain Carpenter, was .stationed. The ship was 
blown ashore and was under the Mexican guns. The Captain sent a boat 
to tell the Commodore of the disaster, but before relief could reach him he 
surrendered. In doing this he was opposed bitterly by all his officers, and 
the quartermaster on duty positively refused to obey the order to haul down 
the flag. Lieutenant Bushrod Hunter, who first went for assistance, reached 



546 BLUK-JACKt.TS OF 1S12. 

the squadron off Vera Cruz, as did also Lieutenant Otway Berryman, with o 
boat's crew, which left before the surrender had been effected. The remain 
der of the crew were taken to Vera Cruz as prisoners of war. As soon as 
Commodore Conner heard of the disaster he sent Captain Engle with the 
" Princeton" to Tuspan. Me made short work of it. He drove the Mexicans 
out of the brig, took what armament was left, and then burned her. The guns 
taken out of the " Truxton" were placed in forts erected to j^rotect Tuspan. 
But these were captured ne.xt year by Commodore Perry and Captain Brcese. 
The officers and men of the navy had a grudge against Tuspan, and the land- 
ing detachment which carried the works fought as though each man in it 
were a demon. It lost three killed, while five officers and six seamen were 
wounded. 

During the summer of 1847, the men of the squadron operating in the 
Gulf suffered severely from yellow fever and also from scurx'y brought on 
by a lack of fresh food. It was so bad on the " Mississippi" that she had 
to been sent to Pensacola. Commodore Perry was himself stricken, but he 
refused to leave, and changed his flag to the " Germantown, " which re- 
mained. This was after the fall of Vera Cruz, and when the duty of the 
naval forces was once again only that of blockaders. The investment of 
Vera Cruz was the most considerable single piece of work performed by the 
navy during the war. Commodore Conner had gathered at Vera Cruz all 
his available forces and anxiously awaited the coming of General Scott and 
his army, who were at Lobos Island, 150 miles north of Vera Cruz. Gen- 
eral Taylor, with 5,000 men, had just defeated Santa Anna with 20,000 
men at Buena Vista, and two days later, that is, on the 24th of February, 
1847, General Scott gave his final orders to his fleet of trarisports which 
was to take his army to Vera Cruz. Early in March the transports with 
12,600 men arrived in front of Vera Cruz. Captain Parker, in his book 
previously quoted, says: "No words can express our excitement as ship 
after ship crowded with enthusiastic soldiers successively came in ; some 
anchoring near us and others continuing on for the ancliorage at Anton 
Lizardo. We had been so long on our ships, and for some months so in- 
active, that wc were longing for something to do. I cannot answer for 
others, but the scene of that day — and I recollect that it was Sunday — is so 
vivid, and the events so firmly fixed in my memory, that I can almost ses 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 547 

the ship " Diadem" as she grazed our spanker-boom in her desire to pass near 
enough to speak us, and I can to this day whistle the waltz played by an 
infantry band on board a transjKjrt anchored near us that night, though I 
have ne\er heard it since." 

Indeed, the naval contingent was most anxious to be in some of the 
heavy fighting, and the chance seeming near, all was enthusiasm aboard the 
ships of the squadron. A few days after General Scott's arrival he and 
Commodore Conner and a large number of principal ofificers, including 
Captain Joseph E. Johnston, of the " Engineers," made a reconnaissance to 
decide on the best place to land the army. They selected the mainland 
abreast of Sacrificios Island. 

On the 9th of March, the steamers "Spitfire" and "Vixen" and several 
gunboats ran close in-shore and shelled the sand-hills and chaparral in 
which the enemy might be concealed. Only a few horsemen were made to 
scamper away. The Government for this very landing had sent out a 
number of surf-boats, flat on the bottom and sharp at both ends. Each of 
these carried one hundred men with their arms and accoutrements. They* 
proved most admirable for the service, as the whole army was landed with 
out a mishap, and, singularly enough, the Mexicans did not molest the 
Americans in the least while this important movement was in progress. 
By midnight of the 9th of March the whole of the army was ashore. Land- 
ing the troops having been accomplished, the work of taking the artillery 
pieces, the ammunition, and supplies was begun, and this consumed a week, 
each day lasting from four in the morning till ten at night. 

While this was in progress. General Scott was so arranging his troops 
that he should entirely invest the city, and by the 20th of March the 
bombardment began. General Scott summoned the authorities to surrender, 
and gave them a chance to send the women and children out of the city. 
Both invitation and opportunity were declined. And so it came about that 
many non-combatants were killed in the siege that followed. The sailors 
not only had to land the army and the materials of war, but they were 
obliged to help get the siege guns in place. The blue-jacket ashore is 
nearly always alive to the importance of having a lark, and even in this 
arduous service they acted very much as though they were on a spree. On 
one occasion a " norther" came up, and for several days the seamen could 



54S BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

not get back to their ships. Being idle they had a good time to their hearts' 
content. It is said that before the end cf the first day every Jack of then 
had a horse and was a mounted marine. (Jne of these, a very tough old 
salt, had for his charger a donkey, and on this animal he rode by General 
Scott's quarters in great pride. " Some officers standing by observing that 
he was, as they thought, seated too far back, called out to him to shift his 
seat more amidships. 'Gentlemen,' said Jack, drawing rein, 'this is tlu 
first craft I ever commanded, and it's d — d hard if I can't ride on the 
quarter-deck.' " 

But there was more serious work immediately in store for the navy than 
fetching and carrying for the army and rewarding themselves in boyish 
pranks. The day before the serious bombardment began the squadron was 
notified by signal from the flagship: "Commodore Perry commands the 
squadron." There was rejoicing at this, for Perry was regarded as a man 
who preferred a fight for its own sake rather than to have no fight at all. 
In this command he proved that he was a good fighter, but he proved also 
t!iat he knew how to be conservative when necessity made such a course 
wise. Commodore Conner went home because his health demanded that he 
should. The Navy Department was not dissatisfied with him. But the 
opportunity for heavy fighting came after Perry took the command. From 
the beginning of the siege the fleet kept up a heavy firing on the city and 
castle so as to divert the fire from the land forces. 

General Scott soon saw that his guns were not strong enough to batter 
down the walls of the city, so he requested Commodore Perry to send him 
some heavy gims. The Commodore's gallant reply was : " Certainly, Gen- 
eral, but I must fight them." And fight them he did, as we shall see. Six 
heavy pieces of ordnance were landed, and about 200 seamen and volunteers 
were attached to each gim. Three of these were sixty-eight-pounder shell 
guns and three thirty-two-pounder solid-shot guns. Each of these guns 
weighed about three tons. Now each of these had to be dragged through the 
loose sand, almost knee-deep, for something like three miles before it could 
be put in the position the engineers had assigned to it. This battery, by 
the way, was protected by bags of sand piled on each other, and this was th^3 
first time that this device had been used. When the battery was in position 
the officers and men of the ships were so anxious to fight it that, to prevent 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 5 [■) 



jealousy, the officers first to be assigned drew lots for the honor. The first 
day Captain Aiilick commaiided, and the next day Captain Mayo. The 
naval batter)- fired with such precision that they did amazing damage to the 
enemy's woi'ks, and on the second day tlie guns in Vera Cruz were silenced. 
Then began a parley as to terms, but on the 28th there was an uncondi- 
tional surrender. Now Scott had a foothold in the part of Mexico which 
counted for something, and he was able to begin that masterly march 
through the Valley of Mexico and on to the capital of the country. But he 
never could have obtained tliis foothold without the assistance of the navy. 
The country did not recognize this at once, and the newspapers being printed 
by landsmen, all of the immediate glory was bestowed on General Scott. 

Now that Vera Cruz had fallen and General Scott's plans called for a 
movement toward the interior, it was most desirable for him to have better 
cavalry. But he lacked horses. Singular as it may seem, he called upon the 
navy to assist in supplying this deiieieney. It was known that there were 
Mexican horsemen in and about Alvarado, so it was determined to proceed 
against this place by land and sea, so that the town could be reduced, and 
the horses secured at the same time. General Quitman, with a brigade, 
was sent by land, so as to keep the horsemen from running away, while the 
"Potomac," Captain Aulick, and the "Scourge," Lieutenant Charles G. 
Hunter, were sent to appear in front of Alvarado. It was evidently in- 
tended that Captain Aulick and General Quitman would move on the place 
on some appointed day. Lieutenant Hunter did not know what the plans 
were, and as his boat was much faster than the " Potomac " he arrived in 
front of Alvarado long before Captain Aulick. When the " Potomac" did 
come in sight, a great commotion was noticed in the harbor. The "Al- 
bany," which had been doing blockading service, came out and informed 
Captain Aulick that Alvarado had been taken. 

"By whom.'" asked the Captain. 

"By Lieutenant Hunter, in the 'Scourge,' " was the reply. 

The " Scourge," it should be explained, was a very small steamer, carry- 
ing one gun and forty men. Hunter went up pretty close and observing in- 
dications of flinching, he fired three guns and dashed biddly in and captured 
the place. The horsemen, the capture of whom was the main object of the 
expedition, were frightened off before General Quitman could intercept 



550 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

them. Having taken posscKsion of Alvarado, Lieutenant Hunter placed in 
tiie town a garrison consisting of a midshipman and two men, and hurried 
his steamer up the river to a place called Tlacotalpan, whicii he also captured. 
When General Ouitman arrived in Alvarado with his Ijrigade and tiic place 
was gravely handed over to him by Passed Midshipman William G. Temple 
(afterward a very distinguished officer of high rank) he was greatly amu;;cd 
and laughed heartily. But Commodore Perry was annoyed and angry. As 
soon as he could get hold of Hunter^ — not an easy matter, as Hunter liad 
gone on his conquering way still further up the river with the intention ot 
taking all the rest of Mexico not subjugated by Ta)lor and Scott — he 
placed him under arrest and preferred charges against him. When Hunter 
was shortly tried by court-martial, he was sentenced to be rei^rimanded by 
the Commodore, the reprimand to be read from the quarter-deck of every 
vessel in the squadron. 

The reprimand, prepared by Commodore Perry, was thought by pretty 
nearly all the officers of the squadron to be entirely too severe. A military 
offence had been committed, but it amounted to a mere tritie, and the time 
was ripe for the people to laugh over such an occurrence. In effect the 
reprimand was something like this : " Who told you to take Alvarado .' Vou 
were sent to watch Alvarado, not to take it. You have taken Alvarado 
with but a single gun and not a marine to back \'ou !" Then the announce- 
ment was made that the squadron would soon move against Tabasco, and 
that Hunter should not accompany it, but that he should be dismissed the 
squadron. And he was sent home. In New York the people made a hero 
of him, giving him swords and dinners, and securing for him the command 
of the schooner "Taney," in which he made a roving cruise to the Medi- 
terranean. As long as lie ]i\ed he was always spoken of as "Alvarado" 
Hunter. A sense of humor is sometimes a dangerous cargo for a public man 
to carry; but the absence of it also is often dangerous. In this instance 
Commodore Perry, because he did not see the amusing aspect of Hunter's 
escapade, made himself so ridiculous that he came near cutting short his 
own career, which, as will afterward be seen in this history, was destined for 
greater achievements than any in the past. 

The next objective point for the navy was Tuspan, where the "Truxton" 
had been lost. The bar at Tv.s;^.;: ;. d.'.ngcrous, and even the small steamers 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 55 1 



of tlie squadron had their masts hoisted out of them to ]iL;"hten them. Com- 
modore Perry hoisted liis flag on tlie " Spitfire" and led the way up the 
river with the boats of the squadron in tow. The first fort on the river 
below the town, called the Pana, was silenced by the gun of the " Spitfire" 
and then stormed by the sailors ; two other forts were taken in the same way 
and the town was occupied. The Mexicans made a spirited defence, but did 
little damage, only one man being killed. Among the wounded were Cap- 
tain Tatnall, Commander Whittle, and Lieutenant James Parker. The 
guns taken from the " Truxton" were found in one of the forts and restored 
to the fleet. 

The last naval operation of the war was against Tabasco. Commodore 
Perry look all of the fleet which could possibly go up the river from Lron- 
tera. This town was easily captured, but when the ascent of the river began 
the boats were continually fired upon from the trees and chaparral along the 
banks. At a place called Devil's Bend, the passage of the river was inter- 
rupted by a sunken obstruction, technically called a clievaiix de frisc. Com- 
modore Perry did not mean to let this stop him, so he organized a land force 
of seamen and marines and concluded to march to Tabasco. He had nu 
merous skirmishes, but was not stopped. One day his own ships passed him, 
the chevaux de frise having been raised by attaching rubber bags to it and 
then inflating them with air. When Perry arrived at Tabasco he found the 
American flag flying, the town having fallen without resistance to his own 
ships. So his own arduous march across country had been all for nothing. 
This was the last work of the sailors, but the marines of the navy still saw 
glorious service, as a detachment of them was with General Scott, participat- 
ing in the attack on Chapultepec. They were also among the first to enter 
the City of Mexico when that capital surrendered., 

The navy in the War with Mexico did itself credit as it always had before, 
and reflected honor upon the country, whose flag was upheld with brilliant 
courage and untiring zeal. 







>','^/ 



chaptp:r XIX. 

THE NAVY IN PEACE. — SURVEYING THE DEAD SEA. SUPPRESSING THE SLAVE 

TRADE. THE FRANKLIN RELIEF EXPEDITION. — COMMODORE PERRY IN 

JAPAN. SIGNING OF THE TREATY. TROUBLE IN CHINESE WATERS. 

THE KOSZTA CASE. THE SECOND FRANKLIN RELIEF EXPEDITION.-— 

FOOTE AT CANTON. " BLOOD IS THICKER THAN WATER." 



m.\^\XFTER the Mexican War the navy enga<;cd for twelve years in 
r3i^^ works of peace varied by a little exciting police duty on the 
high seas. Much was done for commerce and for civilization in 
the years immediately succeeding 1S4S, but the story, though 
important, is not exciting, and is therefore little known. The records of 
these years afford a fair suggestion of what a navy may do when actual 
fighting is not necessary, and when its vessels, with the trained sailors and 
scientists who man them, may be utilized in utilitarian work. 

Shortly after the close of the Mexican War, the armed ship "Supply," 
under command of Lieutenant Lynch, sailed on an expedition to the Dead 
Sea. The start was made from New York, and the vessel arrived in the 
Mediterranean only a few weeks after peace had been declared with Mexico. 
At Smyrna, Lieutenant Lynch left the " Supply," and went to Constantinople 
to obtain permission to enter the Turkish domains. This having been 
granted, the party sailed for Haifa. Arriving at this port on the 21st of 
March, they left their ship, and set out for the Sea of Galilee by an overland 
route, carrj'ing on trucks the boats which had been specially built for naviga- 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S13. 553 

lion in the river Jordan. Upon reacliinsj; Tiberias, on tlie western shore of 
the Sea of Galilee, the party divided, one detachment embarking in the boats 
to navigate the Sea of Galilee, and the other mounting camels and horses to 
make the trip by land, with the intention of keeping" those who had sailed in 
view as much as possible, and protecting them from attacks by wandering 
Arabs or aiding them if necessary in the passage of the tortuous and turbulent 
Jordan. Eight days were consumed in making this passage, and a distance 
covered of 200 miles, although if the trip had been made in a straight line 
instead of along the winding course of the river, it would have been necessary 
to have traversed only sixty miles. An encampment was established on the 
desolate banks of the Dead Sea, and several exploring and scientific expedi- 
tions in the neighborhood were made. Among the interesting facts gathered 
Was the exact depression of the Dead Sea below the level of the ocean. 
This was found to be 1,312 feet. 

The western coast of Africa was the scene of the next important activiiy 
on the part of the American cruisers. The slave-trade, which in the eigh- 
teenth century had assumed extensive proportions, still flourished to a de- 
gree which made the condition upon the coast a disgrace to civilization. It 
was a notorious fact, moreover, that a large proportion of the vessels in the 
trade were of American build and sailed under the Stars and Stripes. Tiie 
United States Government was anxious to wipe out this blot upon the 
nation's fair fame; and consequently, in 1849, sent Lieutenant Foote, in 
command of the brig " Perry," to African waters. The lieutenant, who, by 
the way, afterward became the distinguished Admiral Foote, at once began 
active cruising off Ambrig, a notorious slave mart. The " Ferry" was 
constantly at sea, chasing and boarding suspicious vessels, and very often 
her boats passed through the surf and ran up the jungle-bordered rivers 
to the slave barracoons. Many large slavers were captured, and when, . 
in 185 1, the "Perry" was succeeded on the African coa.st by the squad 
ron under Commander Gregory, Lieutenant Foote had effectually checked 
the slave trade. He was thanked for his services by the Secretary of the 
Navy. 

While Lieutenant Foote was sailing under the blazing sun of Africa, 
another lieutenant, Edwin J. De ILaven, in command of the brigs " Rescue " 
and " Advance, " was pushing his way northward through the ice of the ArcUg 



554 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



Ocean. The Navy Department had considered it proper and fitting to aid 
England in her search for the British commander, Sir John Franl^lin and 
his men, who had sailed into the Arctic regions on an exploring expedition, 
and had been gone so long as to warrant the belief that they were in grave 
peril, if not already dead. Volunteers for the relief expedition had been 
called for by the department. Lieutenant De Haven and others had re- 
sponded, and on May 24th, 1850, started on their errand of mercy. Li 
July, the party was in Baffin's Bay, and here the brigs remained embedded 
in the ice for twenty-one days. On the 29th of July, by a sudden move- 
ment of the floe, an opening at the north presented itself; a northeast 
breeze sprang up at the same cime, and with press of sail the brigs were able 
to force their way into clear water. 

For a month afterward there was continual battling with the ice, and 
slow progress northward. On August 27th, Lieutenant De Haven, having 
in the mean time fallen in with several English relief expeditions, decided to 
make a search on the shores adjacent to a Lancaster Sound. Here were 
found three graves, and various signs that Franklin and his companions had 
spent a winter somewhere thereabouts; but there were no indications of the 
course his vessels, the "Erebus" and the "Terror," had taken when they 
had sailed away. Throught)Ut the winter the search was continued, and the 
" Rescue" and the " Advance" were often in imminent danger of destruction 
in the masses of ice which pressed against the sides of the ships with enor- 
mous force. " Every moment," said Lieutenant De Haven, in his report, " I 
expected the vessels would be crushed or overwhelmed by the masses of ice 
forced up far above our bulwarks." But at last, on June 6th, they forced 
their way again into the open sea; and as the instructions had been not to 
spend a second winter in the Arctic regions, sail was set for home, and late 
in the summer of 1851 the brigs arrived at New York. 

The sending of the frigate " Mississippi," commanded by Captain Matthew 
G. Perry, to the coa.st of Halifax, in 1852, averted what threatened to be 
serious trouble. A dispute had arisen among the .\merican and Canadian 
fishing schooners in those waters, and seven American vessels had been 
seized by the British cruisers. 

This caused intense indignation in New England; but Captain Perry 
poured oil upon the troubled waters, and in 1854, ^s a result of his visit, 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1S12. 555 



a reciprocity treaty between the United States and Canada was signed, and 
til is lasted for ten years. 

Captain Perry performed his most important services for the government, 
however, in Japan. The early fifties were an era of e.xploring expeditions 
for the navy. There were trips up the rivers into unknown regions of South 
America and Africa. The Isthmus of Darien was explored, and an ambi- 
tious scheme to cut a ship-channel through was found to be impracticable. 
It was very natural, during this activity in penetrating little-known parts of 
the world, that attention should have been given to Japan, which was a land 
of mystery to the world at large because of the exclusion of foreigners from 
that country. In 1S52, Captain Perry was assigned the command of the 
squadron cruising in the liast Indies, and was empowered, in addition to his 
ordinary duties, to make a display of force in the waters of Japan in order 
to obtain better treatment for American seamen cast upon Japanese shores, 
and to gain entry into Japanese ports for vessels seeking supplies. He bore 
a letter, moreover, from the President of the United States to the Emperor 
of Japan, written with a view to obtaining a treaty providing for friendly in- 
tercourse and commerce with the haughty island kingdom. On the 8th of 
July, the squadron, comprising the frigates " Mississippi," " Susquehanna," 
and " Powhatan" ; the corvette " Macedonian" ; the sloops-of-war " Plymouth," 
" .Saratoga," and " Vandalia" ; and the store-ships " Supply," " Southampton," 
and " Lexington," anchored off the city of Uraga, in the Bay of Jeddo, Japan. 
Captain Perry decided that the proper course to pursue with the Japanese 
was to assume a very lofty and commanding tone and bearing. He therefore 
ordered away from the sides of his vessel the boats which swarmed around 
it, and allowed none but government officials of high rank to come on board. 
He himself remained in seclusion in his cabin, treating with the Japanese 
through intermediaries. He moved his squadron nearer the capital than was 
allowable, and then demanded that a special commission, composed of men 
of the highest rank, be appointed to convey his letter from the President to 
the Emperor. The close proximity of the ships-of-war to the cajiilal, and 
Captain Perry's peremptory demand, were not at all to the liking of the 
Japanese; but they were greatly impressed witii his apparent dignity and 
power, and at last consented to receive and consider the letter. P"caring 
treachery, Captain Perry moved his ships up so that their guns would com- 



556 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

mand the building prepared for his reception, and on the 14th of July went 
ashore with an escort of 400 officers and men, who found themselves, on 
landing, surrounded by about 6,000 Japanese soldiers under arms. 

Three months were given to the Japanese officials to reply to the letter, 
and Captain Perry sailed witii his squadron for the coast of China. He re- 
turned after an interval of three months, and anchored his ships beyond 
Uraga, where the previous conference had been held, and nearer the capital, 
despite the fact that a place twenty miles below had been appointed for the 
second meeting. The Japanese demurred at this, being so exclusive that 
they did not wish their capital nor their country e\en to be seen by for- 
eigners. Instead of respecting these wishes, Captain Perry approached still 
nearer, until he was only eight miles from Tokio. This high-handed policy 
had the desired effect. Five special Japanese commissioners met Captain 
Perry, and in a building within range of the ships' guns, negotiations were 
carried on. They resulted, on March 31st, in the signing of a treaty by the 
Japanese, in which they promised to open two of their ports to American 
vessels seeking supplies ; to give aid to seamen of the United States wrecked 
upon their shores; to allow American citizens temporarily residing in th^ir 
ports to enter, within certain prescribed limits, the surrounding country; to 
permit consuls of the United States to reside in one of the open ports; 
and, in general, to show a peaceful and friendly .spirit toward our gov- 
ernment and citizens. This treaty is important, because it opened the 
door for the peoples of the world to a country which has since proved 
to be possessed of vast wealth and resources. Captain Perry received 
high praise for his firmness and diplomacy in the conduct of the difficult 
negotiations. 

One vessel of Captain Perry's fleet, the " Plymouth," had remained at 
Shanghai when the squadron returned to Japanese waters, and she jilayed a 
very active though brief part in the troubles which then existed in China. 
Imperial and revolutionary troops were fighting for supremacy, and the 
former showed a hostile disposition to the American and English residents 
of Shanghai. An American pilot was captured by an Imperial man-of-war, 
but was retaken in a most spirited manner from the Chinese by Lieutenant 
Guest, and a boat's crew from the " Plymouth." The Chinese manifesta- 
tions of hostility toward foreign residents continued, and on the 4th of Apnl, 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. S57 

1854, about ninety men from the "Plymouth" and Aratrican merchant- 
ships, under the leadership of Commander Kelly, went ashore, and in con- 
Uuiction with one hundred and fA'ty men from a British man-of-war, began an 
attack upon the Imperial camp. The Americans had two field-pieces and a 
twelve-pound boat-howitzer, which, together with the muskets, were used so 
cffecti\-ely that, after ten minutes of sharj) fighting, the Chinese fled in great 
disorder, leaving a number of dead and wounded upon the field. The Amer- 
ican loss was two killed and four wounded. 

Piracy was rampant in the China seas during this period, and so bold and 
ferocious were the Chinese desperadoes that their junks were a great terror to 
merchant vessels, and seriously interfered with commerce. The " Powhatan," 
another of Captain Perry's squadron, and the English sloop " Rattler," joined 
forces against a fleet of piratical junks off Khulan, in 1855, and completely 
destroyed them, killing many of the pirates in the attack and taking a large 
number of prisoners. In Happy Valley, Hong-Kong, a monument was 
erected to commemorate the eight English and American sailors who were 
killed in the conflict. 

While the East India squadron was performing these important and gal- 
lant services off the coasts of Japan and China, the other vessels of the navy 
were by no means idle. Among the conspicuous naval events of the time 
was the spirited action of Commander Ingraham at Smyrna, in 1854. A 
young Austrian, Martin Koszta, had lived in New York city two years 
before, and had declared his intention of becoming an American citizen. 
He had gone to Smyrna on business, and having incurred the displeasure of 
the Austrian government, had been seized, and was a prisoner on board the 
Austrian man-of-war " Hussar." Commander Ingraham, commanding the 
sloop-of-v\'ar " St. Louis," demanded that Koszta be surrendered, on the 
ground that he was an American citizen. 'Phis being refused, Ingraham 
cleared for action, although the " Hussar's" force was much superior to his 
own. His bold stand brought the Austrians to satisfactory terms, and the 
threatened engagement was averted by the surrender of Koszta. 

There were two Arctic expeditions in addition to that of the " Rescue" 
and the " Advance" in the early fifties. Both of them grew out of the ill- 
fated Arctic explorations of -Sir John Franklin. Lady Franklin, his wife, was 
inxious, upon the failure of tiie first relief expeditions, to send another, and 



558 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 

she asked that a surgeon of the United States Navy, Dr. Kane, be permitted 
to command it. The Navy Department granted the request, and in June, 
1853, the expedition, composed of eighteen men under orders from the de- 
partment and the patronage of Henry Grinnell, of New York, and George 
Pcabody, the American merchant, of London, began the northwest journey. 
This search for Sir John Franklin's ships was also unsuccessful, and the 
relief party was for a long time in imminent danger of a fate similar to 
Franklin's. After living for two winters imprisoned in the ice in Smith's 
Sound, they abandoned their vessel, which had been largely broken up to 
provide fuel, and started on a journey over the ice in sledges. After eighty- 
four days of extreme privation and thrilling adventure, they reached Driscol 
Bay, where they were found by Commander Hartstonc and Lieutenant 
Simms, commanding respectively the "Release" and the "Arctic," which 
vessels had been fitted out by order of Congress to rescue them. In October, 

1855, the united party reached New York. 

In November, 1855, the presence of the United States ship "German- 
town," commanded by Captain Lynch, in the harbor of Montevideo, pre- 
vented an extensive massacre. There had been a rebellion in Paraguay, and 
the insurrectionists had capitulated. The government troops rushed upon 
them with the intention of despatching them, when a detachment of United 
States marines interfered and put an end to the sanguinary scene. Three 
years afterward the marines performed efficient services in Monte\'ideo in 
protecting foreign residents against the insurgents in another rebellion. 

The rather curious episode of a battle-ship fighting Indians occurred in 

1856. The sloop-of-war "Decatur," Commander Gansevoort, anchored oft 
Seattle, Washington, to protect the settlers from attacks from a large body 
of Indians. The savages appeared, and fought the marines, who had landed, 
with much spirit for six hours. At nightfall they disappeared in the woods, 
having suffered the loss of a large number of braves. 

One of the most gallant and important of the minor operations of the 
navy took place in November of the same year. Trouble having arisen 
between the Chinese authorities of the City of Canton and the English 
officials in the vicinity, it was thought that American interests might be in- 
jured, and in consequence Commander Foote stationed his vessel, the sloop- 
of-war " rortsmcuith," of the squadron under Flag-Officer Armstrong, neat 



BLUE -JACKETS OF 1812. 559 

the island of W'hampoa, and thence proceeded, in several armed boats, to 
ascend the river to Canton to establish an armed neutrality. Several Amer- 
icans, however, joined the British in an attack upon the governor's palace, and 
planted the flag beside the English colors on the wall of the city. Com- 
mander Foote disavowed this act, but as he was returning from an interview 
with the flag-ofificer at Whampoa, se\-eral shots of grape and canister were 
fired from the forts upon bis boat, although it displayed the American flag. 
The next day the " Portsmouth" and the " Levant," which had come up the 
river to lend her aid, proceeded to the Canton barrier forts to avenge the in- 
sult. The " Levant" grounded before coming in range of the forts; but the 
" Portsmouth," under a sharp fire, sailed on until within about 500 yards of the 
nearest fort ; then she opened fire. After she had thrown about 200 sliells, 
the Chinese ceased firing. Then followed four days of unsatisfactory parley 
with \'eh, the Governor of Canton, after which Commander Foote renewed 
the attack. The "Levant" now joined the "Portsmouth," and the vessels 
began a cannonade, which was returned with spirit for an hour. Then 208 
men, in ten boats, were landed, and stormed the nearest fort, which was 
taken. Five thousand pigtail-wearing soldiers afterward attempted to re- 
capture it, but were repulsed. In like manner, on the following morning, 
the ne.\t fort was taken, with an American loss of but three men. Duruig 
the afternoon the defenders of the third fort fled. The ne.xt morning, in the 
face of a heavy fire, the fourth and last fort was carried by a rapid assault. 
The little company of Americans was now in possession of four modern forts 
constructed by European engineers, which had been defended, moreover, by 
thousands of men. The insult had been avenged, and the affair resulted in 
a treaty of friendship and commerce with China. 

There was little love between Americans and Cliinese, however, and 
three years afterward Captain Josiah Tatnall rendered valuable aid to the 
English and French gunboats when fired upon by the Chinese forts. The 
boats, under the command of Sir James Hope, were attempting to remo\'e 
obstructions in the Peiho River when the forts suddenly opened a destructive 
fire. A desjierate conflict followed, in which several hundred of the I'".nglish 
were killed. Captain Tatnall commanded the chartered steamer " Toey- 
Wan," which was in the harbor. He forgot his neutrality as he watched 
the .scene. With the exclamation, " Plood is tiiicker than water I " lie jumped 



560 BLUE-JACKETS OF 1812. 



into his launcli and steamed for the British flagship. The boat was struck 
with a ball, and before its trip was ended sunk, the coxswain being Icilled 
and Lieutenant Trenchart severely wor.nded. The others who had manned 
her were rescued, and they helped the English at the guns. Captain Tat- 
nall afterward used the " Toey-Wan" to tow up and bring into action the 
British reserves. His action was a clear violation of the treaty and the 
neutrality law. He received but slight punishment, however, and gained 
great popularity in Great Britain. 

At Eaya, in the Feejee Islands, in 1858, a sharp conflict took place be- 
tween the natives and forty men under Lieutenant Caldwell, who had been 
sent to destroy the principal village as retribution for the murder of two 
American citizens. The natives were sent fleeing inland. The Secretary of 
the Navy said of the affair, " The gallantry, coolness, and bravery displayed 
by officers and men was in the highest degree commendable." A somewhat 
similar episode occurred in the vicinity of Kisembo, on the west coast of 
Africa, in 1 860. The natives threatened the property and lives of American 
citizens, and would undoubtedly ha\e put their threats into effect had it not 
been for the presence and prompt action of Commander Brent of the sloop- 
of-war " Marion." When an insurrection occurred in the neighborhood of 
Panama, in July, i860. Commander Porter landed a body of marines and 
sailors from his ship, the " St. Mary's," which was then stationed on the 
western coast of Mexico. The governor gave up the city of Panama to the 
joint occupancy of the forces of the " St. Mary's" and the British ship-of- 
war "Clio," and tranquillity was quickly restored. 



PART III 
BLUE JACKETS OF '6i 



20 



561 




BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i 



CHAPTER I. 



tHR OPENING OF THE CONFLICT. — THE NAVIES OF THE CONTESTANTS. 
DESPATCH. — THE RIVER GUNBOATS. 



■DIX'S FAMOUS 






HE story of the naval operations of the civil war is a record of 
wonderful energy and inventive skill in improvising and building 
war-vessels, vigilance and courage in handling them, and des- 
perate bravery and dash displayed by officers and seamen in the 
great engagements in which vessels of either side took part. Yet of the 
immense body of literature dealing with the war, the greater part is given 
to telling the story of the great armies of the North and South. The 
details of the great land battles are familiar to many who have but a vague 
idea of the service done by the "blue jackets" of the North, and the daring 
deeds performed by the navies of both sides. 

When the first mutterings of the storm of war began to be heard, the 
United States Government had at- its disposal sixty-nine vessels-of-war, of 
which twenty-seven were laid up for repairs, or, sailors would say, "out of 
commission." Of the forty-two vessels in commission, twenty-six were 



5^4 



BLUE-JACKEIS OF '6i. 



absent on missions to the East Indies, the African coast, and other distant 
quarters of the globe. Long months must elapse before the most hasty 
orders could reach them. Many were sailiiig-vessels, and must consume 
many months of precious time before they could reacli the shores of the 




^tf^ 



THE •■HARTFORD," FARKAGUT'S FLAGSHIP. 



United States. Indeed, though on the inauguration of President Lincoln 
on March 4, 1861, all these vessels were immediately recalled, not one 
arrived before the middle of June, and many were delayed until late in the 
following winter. Of the vessels at home, many were old-fashioned sailing- 
frigates ; beautiful with their towering masts and clouds of snowy canvas, 
but almost useless in that day when steam had become known as the only 
means of propelling vessels-of-war. 

In officers and men the navy was almost as deficient as in vessels. A 



RLUi:-JACKE'IS OF '6i. 5^: 



long peace had filled the lists of officers with old men past that age in 
which may be expected the alertness and energy that must be possessed 
by Jack afloat. The lower grades were filled by boyish officers from the 
Naval Academy, who had never seen a gun fired in anger. The service 
was becoming rusty from long idleness. 

Such was the condition of the navy of the United States when Abraham 
Lincoln was made President. Four years later the navy of the United 
States consisted of six hundred and seventy-one vessels. No nation of 
the world had such a naval power. The stern lessons of the great war had 
taught shipbuilders that wooden ships were a thing of the past. The little 
"Monitor" had by one afternoon's battle proved to all the sovereigns of 
Europe that their massive ships were useless. And all this had been done 
by a people grappling in deadly strife with an enemy in their very dwellings. 
The world's history contains no more wonderful story ol energy and in- 
vention. 

When President Lincoln began his term of office, he appointed Gideon 
Welles of Connecticut Secretary of the Navy. South Carolina had secetied 
from the Union. Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Louisiana 
had followed South Carolina. Anderson, with a handful of United States 
troops, was holding Fort Sumter, expecting every minute to see the puff of 
smoke from the distant casement of Fort Moultrie, and hear the shriek 
of the shell that should announce the opening of the attack. At Wash- 
ington, politicians were intriguing. The loyalty of no man could be re- 
garded as certain. Officers of the army and navy were daily resigning, 
and hastening to put themselves under the command of their various 
States. In the South all was activity. In the North the popular desire 
"ior a compromise hampered the authorities so that rio decided stand 
against the spread of the rebellion could be made. The new Secretary 
of the Navy found himself face to face with the certainty of a long anil 
bloody war, yet had under his command a navy hardly adequate for times 
of peace. To add to his perplexity, many of the oldest and most skill'.] 
officers in the navy resigned, saying that their duty to their States was 
greater than to the United States as a whole. A few revenue officers even 
went so far as to deliver to the State authorities the vessels of which they 
were in command. One commander, a Georgian, bringing his ship back 
from foreign waters, hesitated long whether to take it to the navy-yard at 




DEPARTURE OF A NAVAL EXPEDITION FROM PORT ROYAL. 
S66 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 5^7 

New York, or tt> deliver it to the Southern leaders. He finally decided to 
obey orders, and the ship remained with the United States. Some days 
afterward the com nander told his lieutenant of his hesitation. "We all saw 
it," said the young ;r officer; "and had you turned the ship's prow towards 
Charleston, you weald have been instantly put in irons." 

The surrender of another naval vessel called forth that famous despatch 
from John A. Dix Lhat will ever be linked with his name. The United 
States revenue cutter "McClelland" was lying at New Orleans, under the 
ciimmand of Capt. Brcshwood. The revenue service is distinct from 
the regular navy, and k under the general command of the Secretary of the 
Treasury. John A. Di.v^ then Secretary of the Treasury, suspected that 
Capt. Breshwood was about to surrender his vessel to the Confederates, 
and sent an agent to order him to take the vessel to New York. Bresh- 
wood refused, and instantly Di.x sent the despatch: "Tell Lieut. Caldwell 
to arrest Capt. Breshwood, assume command of the cutter, and obey the 
order through you. If Capt. Breshwood, after arrest, undertakes to inter- 
fere with the command of thd cutter, tell Lieut. Caldwell to consider him 
as a mutineer, and treat him accordingly. // any man attempts to haul 
down tlic American Jlag, shoot jiini on the spot." This despatch was inter- 
cepted by the Confederates, a/id the cutter was surrendered. But Di.x's 
determined words reverberated through the North, and thrilled all hearts 
with the hope that the time for delay was past, and that the growing 
rebellion would be put down with a firm hand. 

So at the opening of the war we find the North with a navy consisting 
of but a few old-fashioned ships, few sailors, officers everywhere resigning, 
and a general feeling of distrust of brother officers in all grades. 

The condition of the South as regards the navy was even worse. The 
Southern States had never done any great amount of ship-building. The 
people were almost all engaged in farming. The crops of cotton and sugar 
that they raised were shipped in vessels built in Maine, and manned by 
sailors from the sea-faring villages of New England. At the time the war 
broke out, there was hardly a ship-yard in the confines of the Confederacy 
A few vessels were gained by the treachery of United States officers. The 
capture of the Norfolk navy-yard brought them large quantities of naval 
stores, and by wonderful activity a few vessels were built for service on 
inland sounds and rivers. But at no time could the Confederacy have 



5^8 BLUE-JACK!-: IS -JF '6i. 



been said to ha\'e a navy ; and, keeping tliis fact in view, the record tlie 
Confederates made witli two or tlirce vessels is most wonderful. In war- 
vessels for service on that wonderful net-work of rivers that make up the 
water-ways of the Mississippi Valley, the South was not so deficient as 
in ships of the sea-going class. The long, crescent-shaped levee at New 
Orleans is lined throughout certain seasons of the year by towering river- 
steamers which ply uii and down the Mississippi and connecting streams, 
taking from the plantations huge loads of cotton, sugar, and rice, and 
carrying to the planters those supplies which can only be furnished by the 
markets of a great city. The appearance of one of these towering river 
transports as she comes sailing down the turbid stream of the great Father 
of Waters, laden to the water's edge with brown bales of cotton, and 
emitting from her lofty, red crowned smoke-stacks dense clouds of pitchy 
black smoke, is most wonderful. Unlike ocean-steamers, the river-steamer 
carries her load upon her deck. Built to penetrate far towards the head- 
waters of rivers and bayous that in summer become mere shallow ditches, 
these steamers have a very light draught. Many of them, whose tiers of 
white cabins tower sixty or seventy feet into the air, have but three feet 
of hull beneath the river's surface. The first deck, when the vessel is 
but lightly loaded, stands perhaps two feet out of writer. Above this, 
carried on rows of posts twenty feet high, comes the first cabin. All 
between is open to the air on either side ; so thai, as one of the huge 
river-monsters passes at night, the watcher on the bank can see the 
stalwart, black, half-naked bodies of the negro stokers, bending before the 
glowing furnace doors, and throwing in the soft coal, that issues in clouds 
of smoke from the towering chimneys seventy feet above. The lights in 
three rows of cabin windows glow; and the unceasing beat of the paddle- 
wheels mingles with the monotonous puff of the steam from the escape- 
pipes, and the occasional bursts of music from the open cabin doors. One 
who for the first time looks on one of these leviathans of the Mississippi, 
pursuing its stately course at night, does not wonder at the frightened 
negro, who, .seeing for the first time a night-steamboat, rushed madly from 
the river's bank, crying that the angel Gabriel had come to blow the last 
trump. 

When these boats have taken on their full load of cotton, they present 
a very different appearance. Then all the open space beneath the cabins 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 5^9 

is filled by a mass of cotton-bales. The hull is so sunken in the water 
that the lowest tier of cotton-bales is lapped by the little waves that 
ruffle the surface of the river. The stokers and furnaces are hid from view, 
and the cabins appear to be floatini;- on one huge cotton bale. Generally 
a great wooden stern-wheel propels this strange craft, adding to the gro- 
tesqueness of the sight. 

It may readily be understood, that vessels of this class, in which strength 
was subordinated to lightness, and economy to gingerbread decoration, 
seemed to be but poor materials for vessels-of-war. The tremendous recoil 
of a rifled cannon fired from one of those airy decks, meant to stand no 
ruder shock than the vibration caused by dancing pleasure-parties, would 
shake the whole frail structure to pieces. Yet the ingenuity born of 
necessity, ^nd the energy awakened by the immediate prospect of war, led 
the Confederate engineers to convert some of these pleasure-palaces into 
the most terrible engines of destruction chronicled in the annals of war. 
The first step was to sweep off all the towering superstructure of decks, 
cabins, and saloons ; tear away all the fanciful mouldings, the decorated 
staterooms, and carved and gilded stairways. This left a long, shallow hull, 
with a powerful engine in the centre, and great paddle-wheels towering oi) 
citlicr side ; the whole so light that the soldiers of Grant's army, when 
they first saw one, stoutly a\erred that " those boats could run on a 
heavy dew." The hull was then thinly plated with iron, and the prow 
lengthened, and made massive, until it formed the terrible "ram," fallen 
into disuse since the days of the Greek galleys, to be taken up again by 
naval architects in the nineteenth century. Then on the deck was built a 
pent-house of oak and iron, with sloping sides just high enough to cover 
the engine. The two towering smoke-stacks, the pride of the old river- 
steamers, were cut down to squat pipes protruding a foot or two above the 
strange structure. In the sides were embrasures, from which, when open, 
peered the iron muzzles of the dogs of war, ready to show their teeth and 
spit fire and iron at the enemy. Tliis was the most powerful type of the 
river gunboat, and with them the Confederacy was fairly well provided ; 
though it was not long before the war department of the United States 
was well supplied with similar ships. It was these iron-clad gunboats that 
used to rouse the anger of the doughty Admiral I'arragut, who persisted in 
declaring them cowardly engines of destruction, and predicted that as they 



57'^ BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 

came into use, the race of brave fighting jack-tars would disappear On 0110 
occasion the admiral was ploughing his way up the Mississippi above New- 
Orleans, in one of Commodore Bailey's river iron clads. The batteries of 
the enemy on cither hand were pounding away at the ascending ships, 
hurling huge bolts of iron against their mailed sides, with a thunder that 
was deafening, and a shock that made the stricken ships reel. The c^dmiral 
stood in the gun-room of one of the iron-clads, watching the men working 
the guns, in an atmosphere reeking with the smoke of the powder. A look 
of manifest disapproval was on his face. Suddenly an unusually well- 
directed shot struck a weak point in the armor, and, bursting through, killed 
two men near the admiral's position. He looked for a moment on the 
ghastly spectacle, then turning to an officer said, " You may stay here in 
your iron-clad room if you wish : as for me, I feel safer on deck." And on 
deck he went, and stayed there while the fleet passed through the hail 
of shot and shell. 

The scarcity of iron in the -Southern States prevented the naval authori- 
ties of the newly organized Confederacy from equipping a very large fleet 
of iron-clads. At the outbreak of the war, the Tredegar Iron Works at 
Richmond was the only place in the South where iron plates of a size 
suitable for plating vessels could be rolled. The demand was of course 
far in excess of the facilities of the factory, and many were the make-shifts 
that ship-builders were forced to. Some vessels were plated only about the 
centre, so as to protect the boiler and engines. Others bore such a thin 
coat of iron that they were derisively called "tin-clads" by the sailors, 
who insisted that a Yankee can-opener was all that was necessary to rip 
the vessel up. Sometimes, when even a little iron was unattainable, bales 
of cotton were piled up around the sides, like breastworks, for the protec- 
tion of men and engines. The vessel which captured the United States 
ship "Harriet Lane," at Galveston, was thus provided; and the defence 
proved very valuable. One great objection to the cotton-bale bulwarks was 
the very inflammable nature of the material, since a red-hot shot from the 
enemy, or a bit of blazing wadding from a gun, would set it smouldering 
with a dense black smoke that drove the men from their guns until the 
bales could be thrown overboard ; thus extinguishing the fire, but exposing 
the men to the fire of the enemy. 

One of the most striking features of the war of secession was the 



LLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 571 

manner in which private citizens hastened to contribute towards the public 
defence. This was so no less in naval than in military circles. I'erliaps 
the greatest gift ever made by a citizen to his Government was the gift b)' 
"Coniniodore" Vanderbilt to the United States of a magnificently equipped 
ship-of-\var, which was named "The Vanderbilt" in honor of lier donor, 
and did efficient service in maintaining the blockade on the Atlantic coast. 
Mr. James Gordon Bennett, the present owner of the " New- York Herald, ' 
put his yacht at the service of the Government, and was himself commis 
sioned a lieutenant in the revenue service. 





^^fc^^^^^tj^LlplI^; 



'-^' 




CHAPTER II. 



rORT SUMTER DOMBARDED. — ATTEMPT OF THE "STAR OF THE WEST" TO RE-ENFORO 
ANDERSON. — THE NAVAL EXPEniTION TO FORT SUMTER. — THE RESCUE OF THE FR1G.4T1 
' CONSTITUTION." — r.URNlNG THE NORFOLK. N.WY.YARD. 







m^m 



HE first purely warlike event of the civil war was the bombard 
mcnt and capture of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, by the 
troops of the State of South Carolina. At the time when it first 
became evident that civil war was inevitable, Fort Sumter was 
vacant. Tiie only United States troops stationed at Charleston were two 
companies of artillery under Major Robert Anderson. The fortifications 
of Charleston Harbor consisted of Fort Moultrie on the main land (in which 
Anderson's command was stationed). Fort Pinckney, and Fort Sumter 
standing massive and alone in the centre of the harbor. Anderson, with 
his handful of troops in the most vulnerable of the three forts, saw day by 
day the secession sentiment growing stronger. Almost daily some of the 
privileges of the soldier)- were cut off ; such as the right of passing through 
the city, and the right to buy supplies in the public markets. Daily could 
be heard the drum and the tread of the newly organized bodies of State 
soldiers. Anderson saw that his position was a weak one, but could get 
no orders from headquarters. Finally he decided to assume the responsi- 
bility of evacuating Fort ^Moultrie and occupying I'ort Sumter. To-day it 
hardly seems as though he could have thought of doing otherwise, but 



liLUE-JACKKi'S OF 



573 



at that time it was a grave responsibility for a man to assume. The whole 
voice of the North was for compromise, and it was his part to commit the 
first overt act of war. But he was nobly upheld in his decision by his 
Northern brethren. Having decided, he lost no lime in carryiug his plan 




FORT MOULTRIE. 



into effect. His little corps of troops was drawn up at midnight on the 
parade, and for the first time informed of the contemplated movement. 
The guns of Fort Moultrie were hurriedly knocked from their trunnions, 
and spiked ; the gun-carriages were piled in great heaps, and fired ; and 
every thing that might in any way be used against the United States 
Government was destroyed. Then the work of evacuation was begun. 
A small fleet of row-boats carried the troops to the entrance of the great, 
sullen fort, standing alone in the middle of the harbor, and made frequent 
trips bringing supplies and ammunition from the dcserlcu loilrLss. Al, 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. _ 5/5 

was done silently : the oars were muffled, and the commands of the officers 
were whispered, that no tidings should be told of the movement under way. 
Before sunrise all was completed ; and when the rays of the rising sun fell 
upon the stars and stripes floating from the flagstaff of Sumter, the people 
of Charleston turned their eyes from the starry flag to the clouds of smoke 
arising from Fortress Moultrie, and comprehended that the war had begun. 
Newspaper correspondents and agents of the Federal Government, and the 
Southern leaders, rushed for the telegraph-wires ; and the news soon sped 
over the country, that Sumter was occupied. The South Carolinians at 
once began to build earthworks on all points bearing on the fort, and were 
evidently preparing to drive Anderson and his troops out. Anderson 
promptly telegraphed to Washington for supplies and re-enforcements, and 
expressed his intention of staying as long as the walls stood. The Govern- 
ment was dilatory, but finally concluded to re-enforce the fort, and to that 
end secured the steamer " Star of the West," and began the work of 
provisioning her for the voyage. It was decided that she should carry no 
guns: that would look too much like war; and accordingly, on the 8th of 
January, this helpless vessel set out to the aid of the beleaguered garrison 
of Fort Sumter. The news was at once telegraphed to Charleston ; and 
the gunners in the Confederate trenches shotted tlicir guns, and awaited the 
appearance of the steamer. She hove into sight on the morning of the I2th, 
and when within range was notified, by a shot across her bows, that she 
was expected to stop. This signal being disregarded, the firing began in 
earnest ; and the shot and shell fell thick about the ship, which kept 
pluckily on her course. But it was useless to persist. One shot struck the 
steamer near the bows, others whizzed through her rigging, and finally her 
captain saw a tug putting out from tiie land, towing a schooner crowded 
with armed men to cut off the " Star's " retreat. He gave the command 
"Hard a port." The ship's head swung round, and she steamed away, 
leaving the garrison to their fate. An old gunner who stood in a casemate 
of Fort Sumter, with the lanyard of a shotted gun in his hand, tells the story 
of how he begged Major Anderson to let him fire <m the rebel batteries. 
"Not yet; be patient," was the response. When the shells began to fall 
thick about the .steamer, he again asked permission to retaliate, but met the 
same response. Then when he saw the white splinters fly from the bow, 
where the enemies' shell had struck, he cried, " Now, surely, we can return 



576 



BLUE-JACKKTS OF '6i. 



iliat!" but still the answer was, " Be patient." When the " Star of the 
West," confessing defeat, turned and fled from the harbor, Anderson turned 
and walked away, curtly saying there was no need to fire then, but to save 

the load for the 
necessity that was 
coming. 

The first naval 
operation of the 
war was the expe- 
dition fitted out to 
relieve Fort Sum- 
ter. In itself, this 
expedition was but 
an insignificant af- 
fair, ending in fail- 
ure; but as the 
first warlike action 
on -the part of the 
United States 
Government, it at- 
tracted the greatest 
attention through 
out the nation. In 
preparing the ves- 
sels for sea, great 
care was taken to 
keep their destination secret, so that no warning should reach the Confeder- 
ates, who were lying in their batteries about Sumter, awaiting the first offen- 
sive action of the United States authorities to begin shelling the fortress. 
While the squadron was fitting out, it was generally supposed that it was 
intended to carry troops and munitions of war to Fort Pickens in Pensaco]:i 
Harbor, which was invested by the Confederates. When the fleet finally 
sailed, each commander carried sealed orders, upon opening which he fir.^t 
found that the expedition was bound for Charleston Harbor. Notwith 
standing all this secrecy, the destination of the fleet was telegraphed to the 
Confederates almost as soon as the last vessel dropped past Sandy Hook ; 




MAJOR ROBERT ANDERSON. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 577 



and the fire from the circle of batteries about the doomed fort in Charleston 
Harbor began immediately. When the fleet arrived at its destination, the 
bombardment was well under way. To attempt to land troops or stores 
under the withering fire concentrated upon the fort, would have been mad- 
ness. The only vessel of sufficient strength to engage the batteries, the 
" Pawnee," had been separated from the fleet by a gale a few nights before, 
and had not yet arrived. Sadly the sailors gave up the attempt, and, 
beating up and down outside the harbor bar, awaited the inevitable end of 
the unequal conflict. When, finally, after a heroic resistance of several 
days. Major Anderson and his little band, worn with constant vigilance 
and labor, destitute of provisions, and exposed to a constant hail of iron 
missiles from without and a raging fire within, agreed to capitulate, the 
United States steamship "Baltic," of the Fort Sumter expedition, took him 
on board and bore him safely to New York. The main purpose of the 
expedition had failed, it is true ; but the Government had fnade its first 
decisive move, and public sympathy and confidence were excited. 

The preparations for the coming struggle were now being pressed 
f'.'rward on every hand. An incident which occurred soon after the fall 
if -Sumter awakened the greatest enthusiasm throughout the North. The 
United States frigate "Constitution" was lying at Annapolis, where she 
v^-;is being used by the authorities of the naval academy there for a school- 
s'.iip. Although the State of Maryland had not seceded from the Union, 
)'et SLcessionists were to be found in great numbers in all parts of the State. 
A number ol them determined to seize the ship. Besides being a war-vessel 
of considerable strength, the "Constitution" — or "Old Ironsides," as she 
was affectionately called — was famous for her many exploits, and dear to 
the hearts of Americans for her long service under the stars and stri[)cs. 
" If we can but capture the vessel, and turn her guns against the Union," 
ihought the conspirators, "we will strike a heavy blow at tlie Northern 
sympathizers." And, indeed, it would have been a heavy blow to the 
nation had they captured the old frigate that did such service under Preble 
ill the war with Tripoli; and that in the War of 1812 forced the British to 
strike their colors, and gave to the United States navy an equal place on the 
higl) seas with any nation of the world. Tlie plans of the conspirators 
were v.cll laid. The ship was manned by but twenty men, and lay above 
a bar, over which she could only be carried by the aid of a steam-tug. 



S/S BLUE-JACKKIS OF '6i. 



Fortunately tlie officers and crew were all loyal. For four days and four 
nights they watched the preparations being made on shore for their capture. 
Mysterious signals flashed from the surrounding hills. Armed bodies of 
men were seen drilling on the shore. All seemed to tend toward certain 
capture. Yet with no chance of escape tlie brave men kept vigilant guard, 
with guns shotted and always primed. 

Near Annapolis was stationed the Eighth Massachusetts Infantry, with 
Gen. Butler in command. News was carried to the general of the perilous 
position of the "Constitution," and he at once determined to hasten to her 
relief. Just as the crew of the old frigate had abandoned all hope, the 
steamer "Maryland" entered the harbor, her guards and decks crowded 
with the men of the Eighth Massachusetts. Quickly the "Constitution" 
was i)repared for sailing. Her anchors were slipped, .all useless weight cast 
overboard, and, with the "Maryland" as tug, the stately frigate passed 
slowly over the bar, and out of the grasp of the conspirators. 

The " Constitution " was not the only United States vessel that the 
Confederates were planning ''o seize. Soon after she escaped from their 
lands, an event occurred by wti.ch a vast quantity of naval stores, and the 
mutilated but still valuable hulls of some of the most powerful w?r-vessels 
in the United States navy, fell into their hands. The United Stat-^s navy- 
yard at Norfolk was one of the most valuable of all the gover.imental 
possessions. In the great yard was government property amounting to 
more than twenty millions of dollars. Machine-shops, foundries, dwellings 
for officers, and a massive granite dry-dock made it one of the most 
complete navy-yards in the world. An enormous quantity of car-ion, 
cannon-balls, powder, and small-arms packed the huge storehouses. In 
the magnificent harbor were lying some of the most formidable vesseU of 
the United States navy, including the steam frigate " Merrimac," of wh ?h 
we shall hear much hereafter. Small wonder was it, that the people of 
Virginia, about to secede from the Union, looked with covetous eyes upon 
this vast stock of munitions of war lying apparently within their grasp. 
It did not take long for them to persuade themselves that they were right 
in seizing it ; and, once decided, their movements were vigorous and open. 
Of their ability to capture the yard, and gain possession of all the property 
there, they felt no doubt. The first thing to be done was to entrap the 
ships so that they should bc unable to get out of the harbor. Accordingly, 



BLUE-JACKF.rS OF '6i. 579 



on the i6th of April, tfirce large stone-vessels were sunk directly in the 
channel, apparently barring the exit of the frigates most effectually. 
Indeed, so confident of success were the plotters, that in a despatch to 
Richmond, announcmg the successful sinking of the stone-ships, they said, 
" Thus have we secured for Virginia three of the best ships of the na\j." 
15ut later events showed, that, in boasting so proudly, the Virginians wju 
committing the old error of counting chickens before they were hatched. 

The condition of affairs within the navy-yard now seemed desperate. 
There appeared to be no chance of getting the vessels beyond the ubsLiuc- 
tions. The militia of Virginia was rapidly gathering in the town. Among 
the naval officers on tlie ships great dissension existed, as many were 
Southerners, about to resign their posts in the United States service to 
enter the service of their States. These men would, of course, give no 
active aid to any movement for the salvation of the United States property 
in the yard. Any assistance must come from the outside ; the beleaguered 
could but passively await the course of events. 

At seven o'clock on the night of April 21, the United States steamer 
" Pawnee," which had been lying under the guns of Fortress Monroe, 
hoisted anchor, and headed up the bay, on an errand of destruction. It 
was too late to save the navy-yard with its precious stores. The only thing 
to be done was to burn, break, and destroy every thing that might be of 
service to an enemy. The decks of the " Pawnee" were black with men, — 
soldiers to guard the gates, and complete the work of destruction within the 
yard ; blue-jacketed tars to do what might be done to drag the entrapped 
vessels from the snare set them by the Virginians. It was a bright moon- 
light night. The massive hull of the ship-of-war, black in the cold, white 
rays of the moon, passed rapidly up the Elizabeth River. The sunken 
wrecks were reached, and successfully avoided ; and about nine o'clock the 
"Pawnee" steamed into the anchorage of the navy-yard, to be greeted 
with cheers from the tars of the "Cumberland" and "Pennsylvania," who 
expected her arrival. The townspeople seeing the war-vessel, with ports 
thrown open, and black muzzles of the guns protruding, took to their houses, 
fearing she would open fire on the town. Quickly the "Pawnee" steamed 
to her moorings. The marines were hurriedly disembarked, and hastenetl 
to guard the entrances to the na\y-yard. Howitzers were planted so as to 
rake every street leading to the yard. Thus secure against attack, the work 



5^0 3LUE-JACKErS OF 5:. 

of the night began. Nearly two thousand willing hands were set hard at 
work, cannon were dismounted and spiked, rifles and muskets dashed to 
pieces ; great quantities of combustibles were piled up in the mammoth 
buildings, ready to be fired at a given signal. In the mean time, the blue- 
jackets were not idle. It was quickly decided, that, of all the magnificent 
\essels anchored in the harbor, the " Cumberland " was the only one that 
could be tDwed past the obstructions in the river. All hands were set to 
work removing every thing of value from the doomed vessels to the 
" Cumberland." Gunpowder and combustibles were then arranged so as to 
completely destroy the vessels when ignited. When the moon went down 
at twelve o'clock, the preparations were complete. All the men were then 
taken on board the "Cumberland" and "Pawnee," save a few who were 
left to fire tiie trains. As the two vessels started from the moorings, the 
barracks were fired, the lurid light casting a fearfid gleam upon the crowded 
yards and shrouds of the towering frigate. A little way out in the stream 
a rocket was sent up from the " Pawnee." This was the signal for the 
firing of. the trains. The scene that followed is thus described by an eye- 
witness : — 

"The rocket sped high in air, paused a second, and burst in showers 
of many colored lights ; and, as it did so, the well-set trains at the ship- 
houses, and on the decks of the fated vessels left behind, went off as if 
lit simultaneously by the rocket. One of tiie ship-houses contained the old 
' New York,' a ship thirty years on the stocks, and yet unfinishei! ; tlic 
otlier was vacant. But botli houses, and the old ' New York,' burned like 
tinder. The vessels fired were the ' Pennsylvania,' the ' Merrircac,' the 
' Germantown,' the 'Plymouth,' the ' Raritan,' the ' Columbia,'- and the 
' Dolphin.' The old ' Delaware ' and ' Columbus," worn-out and disabled 
seventy-fours, were scuttled, and sunk at the upper docks on Friday. 

" I need not try to picture the scene of the grand conflagration that now 
burst like the day of judgment on the startled citizens of Norfolk, Ports- 
mouth, and all the surrounding country. Any one who has seen a ship 
burn, and knows how like a fiery serpent the flame leaps from pitchy deck 
to smoking shrouds, and writhes to their ver)' top around the masts that 
stand like martyrs doomed, can form some idea of tiie wonderful display 
that followed. It was not thirty minutes from the time the trains were 
fired, till the conflagration roared like a hurricane, and the flames from land 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 5^1 



iv.ul water swayed and met and ni)ni;icd to-ctlier, and darted higli, and fell, 
and leaped up again, and by their very motion showeil their sympathy with 
the erackling, crashing war of destruction beneath. 

'•But in all this magnificent scene the old ship 'Pennsylvania' was the 
centre-piece. She was a very giant in death, as she had been in life. She 
was a sea of flame ; and when the iron had entered her soul, and her bowels 
were consuming, then did she spout forth from every porthole of every 
deck torrents and cataracts of fire, that to the mind of Milton would have 
represented her a frigate of hell pouring out unending broadsides of infernal 
fire. Several of her guns were left loaded, but not shotted ; and as the fire 
reached them they sent out on the startled morning air minute-guns of 
fearful peal, that added greatly to the alarm that the light of the fire had 
spread through the country round about. The ' Pennsylvania ' burned like 
a volcano for five hours and a half before her mainmast fell. I stood watch 
ing the proud but perishing old leviathan as this emblem of her majesty 
was about to come down. At precisely half-past nine o'clock the tall tree 
that stood in her centre tottered and fell, and crushed deep into her burning- 
sides." 

During this fearful scene the people of the little town, and the Virginia 
militia-men who had been summoned to take possession of the navy-yard, 
were no idle spectators. Hardly had the "Pawnee" steamed out into the 
stream, when the great gates were battered down, and crowds of men 
rushed in, eager to sa\'e whatever arms were uninjured. Throughout the 
fire they worked like beavers, and succeeded in saving a large quantity of 
munitions of war to be used by the Confederacy. The ships that had been 
fired all burned to the water's edge. One was raised, and re-appeared as 
the formidable " Merrimac " that at one time threatened the destruction 
of the whole Union navy. 

A great amount of valuable property was saved for the \''irginians by 
the coolness of a young boy, the son of one of the citizens of the town. 
This lad was within the gates of the navy-yard when the troops from the 
sl-.ips rushed in, and closed and barricaded them against tiie townspeople. 
He was frightened, and hid himself behind a quantity of boards and rubbish, 
and lay there a silent and immensely frightened spectator of the work of 
destruction. An officer passed near him directing the movements of two 
sailors, who were laying a train of gunpowder to an immense pile of 



582 BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 



explosives and combustibles in the hu^^c granite dry-dock. The train 
passed over a broad board ; and the boy, hardly knowing what he did, drew 
away this board, leaving a gap of eight inches in the train. When all the 
trains were fired, this was of course stopped at the gap; and the dry -dock 
UJ.S saved, and still remains in the Norfolk Navy-Yard. 



^^^^ 




CHAPTER III. 

DIFFICULTIES OF THE CONFEDERATES IN GETTING A NAVY. - EXPLOIT OF THE "FRENCH 
LADY."-NAVAL SKIRMISHING ON THE POTOMAC. -THE CRUISE OF THE "SUMTER." 




HE disparity of maritime importance between the North and the 
.South, and the consequent difficulties to be overcome by the latter 
in getting a navy, have been already alluded to. As it has been 
stated, in river-steamers and ponderous rams the South was fairly 
well supplied; but what was really needed were ocean-going ships, to break 
the rigid blockade that was slowly starving the Confederacy into submis- 
sion, — swift cruisers to prey on the commerce of the enemy, and powerful 
line-of-battle ships, which, by successfully coping with the vessels of the 
United States on the high seas, should secure for the Confederacy recog- 
nition, and possibly assistance, from the great powers of Europe. But 
how to get these without ship-yards, ship-builders, or seamen, was a task 
that baffled the ingenuity of the best minds in the South. Immediately 
upon the organization of the Confederate cabinet, an agent was sent to 
England to negotiate for vessels and guns. But, though this agent was 
a man of wonderful resources and great diplomacy, he found an almost 
insuperable obstacle in the universally recognized law of nations, to the 
effect that no neutral nation shall sell vessels or munitions of war to belliger- 
ents. It is true that this agent, Caut. Bulloch, did succeed in secur- 



5?^4 BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



iiig three ships, — the "Florida," the "Shenandoah," and the celebrated 
"Alabama;" but to do so cost an immense amount of diplomacy and 
the sacrificing of the strength of the vessels to the necessity which 
^existed for making them appear to be merchantmen. To build an iron- 
'clad in a foreign port, was out of the question ; and consequently ships 
so obtained were forced to fly from any well-equipped war-vessel, and only 
venture to attack unarmed merchantmen. 

The United States vessels which were delivered into the hands of the 
Confederates by their officers were mainly small revenue cutters, of little 
use in naval warfare and soon given up or destroyed. Not a single ship of 
this class made any record of distinguished service for the Confederacy. 
Several merchant-vessels were captured by tiie Confederates, who concocted 
the most ingenious plans to secure success. One bright July morning 
the steamer "St. Nicholas" was lying at her dock in P.altimore, with 
steam up, and all prepared for her regular trip down the Chesapeake. Quite 
a large number of passengers had bought tickets, and lounged about the 
decks, waiting for the voyage to begin. Among the passengers were a 
number of mechanics, with tools in their hands, going down the bay in 
search of work. Shortly before the signal to cast off was given, a car- 
riage was driven down the wharf, and a lady, heavily veiled, alighted, as- 
sisted by two gentlemen. The gentlemen stated that she was a French 
lady, and in ill-health. Accordingly she was at once assigned a stateroom, 
to which she retired. Soon after, the vessel cast off and headed down 
the bay. When fairly out of the harbor, the stateroom door opened, and 
instead of the frail, heavily veiled widow who went in, out strode a black- 
whiskered man, armed to the teeth. He had no trouble now in speaking 
Englisli, and at once demanded the surrender of the ship. The honest 
mechanics dropped their tools, and, drawing concealed weapons, rallied 
around their leader. They had found the work they started out to seek. 
The ship was captured, and a new privateer was ready to prey on Northern 
merchant-ships. Once in the hands of the conspirators, the vessel was 
run into a little port where the passengers were landed, and a hundred 
and fifty more Confederates taken aboard. Under the command of Capt. 
Thomas (the "French lady"), the vessel proceeded to Fredericksburg, 
where she, and three brigs captured on the way, were delivered to the 
Confederate leaders. This adventure so favorably terminated, Thomas, 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 5S5 

with his officers, started back to Baltimore, to lay plans for the capture 
of some other unsuspecting craft. But fortune, which had thus far favored 
him, deserted him at last. On the vessel upon which the conspirators 
took passage were two police-officers of Baltimore. One of these officers 
recognized Thomas, and quietly laid plans for his capture. In the harbor 
at Baltimore stands Fort McHenr}'. Under its frowning casemates the 
ships of the United States could lie without fear of attack from the 
thousands of discontented men who made of Baltimore a secession city. 
The captain of t'le "Mary Washington" was ordei'cd by Lieut. Carmichael, 
the officer of police, to bring the ship into the anchorage, under the guns of 
tliL- fort. This soon came to the ears of Thomas, who with his men rallied 
on the deck, and, with revolvers drawn, seemed prepared to make a 
desperate resistance. They were soon convinced that the officers had 
ample power behind them, and therefore submitted. On arriving at the 
fort, a company of soldiers was sent aboard the boat, and the prisoners 
\.cre marched ashore. But Thomas was not to be found. Search was 
: '.ade in all parts of the boat, without avail; and the officers bad' decide'' 
that he had jumped overboard, with the desperate intention of swimming 
ashore. Jiist as they were about to give up the search, a noise was heard 
/hat seemed to come from a bureau in the ladies' cabin. Search was made, 
and there, coiled up in a narrow burc.iu-drawer, lay the leader of the band. 
He had been there two hours, and was helpless from cramp and exhaustion. 
He was placed in a cell at Fort Lafayette ; but later, having been given the 
privilege of walking about the fort, managed to escape by making floats of 
empty tomato-cans, and with their aid swimming almost two miles. He was 
afterwards recaptured, and remained a prisoner until released by reason of an 
exchange of prisoners between the North and South. Soon after his capture, 
the Federal authorities at Baltimore learned that plans had been made tc 
capture other passenger steamers in tlie same way ; but the ringleader being 
locked up, there was no difficulty in defeating the plans of the band. 

During the first few weeks of the war, before active hostilities had fairly 
commenced, events of this nature were of almost daily occurrence. On the 
Potomac particularly, small cruisers were in continual danger of being 
captured, and put into commission under the Confetlcrate flag. A trading 
schooner loaded with garden-produce, dropping lazily down the river to the 
bay, would suddenly be boarded by four or five armed men, her crew 



586 



BLUE-JACKE rS OF '6i. 



driven below, and the vessel run into sonic cc)n\enient port on the Virginia 
shore, to re-appear in a day or two with a small rifled cannon mounted 
(Ml the fore-castle, and a crew thirsting to capture more vessels for the 
Confederacy. On one occasion a party of congressmen from Washington 
started down the Potomac for an excursion to Hampton Roads. Their 
vessel was a small tug, which carried a bow-gun carefully screened from 
observation by tarpaulin. A short distance down the river, a boat with a 
howitzer was seen putting out into the stream, and shaping its course 
directly across the bows of the tug. As the two boats drew nearer together. 




BLOCKADING 'IHE iMOb'TH OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 



a demand came from the smaller that the tug should be surrendered " to 
the State of Virginia." Apparently yielding, the captain oi tlie tug slowed 
lip his vessel, and waited for his assailants to come alongside, which they 
did until suddenly confronted with the muzzle of a cannon, trained directly 
on their boat, and a loud voice demanding that they surrender at once, 
which they accordingly did, and were taken to Washington by their 
triumphant captors. Many such trivial events are chronicled by the news- 
papers of the time. The advantage gained by either side was small, and 
the only effect was to keep the war sentiment at fever-heat. 

The first regularly commissioned man-of-war of the Confederate States 
was the "Sumter," an old passenger steamer remodelled so as to carry five 
guns. This vessel, though only registering five hundred tons, and smaller 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 587 



than many a steam-yacht of to-day, roamed over the high seas at will for 
more than a year, burning and destroying the merchant-vessels of the 
North, and avoiding easily any conflicts with the Northern men-of-war. 
Ker exploits made the owners of American merchant-vessels tremble for 
their property; and the United States authorities made the most desperate 
attempts to capture her, but in vain. In his journal of Dec. 3, i86f, Capt. 
Semmes of the " Sumter " writes with the greatest satisfaction : " The 
2nemy has done us the honor to send in pursuit of us the ' Powhattan,' the 
'Niagara,' the 'Iroquois,' the 'Keystone State,' and the 'San Jacinto.'" 
Any one of these vessels could have blown the 'Sumter' out of water with 
one broadside, but the cunning and skill of her commander enabled her to 
escape them all. 

It was on the ist of June, 1861, that the " Sumter" cast loose from the 
levee at New Orleans, and started down the Mississippi on her way to the 
open sea. For two months workmen liad been busy fitting her for the new 
part she was to play. The long rows of cabins on the upper deck were 
torn down ; and a heavy eight-inch shell-gun, mounted on a pivot between 
the fore and mainmasts, and the grinning muzzles of four twenty-four- 
pounder howitzers peeping from the ports, told of her warlike character. 
The great levee of the Crescent City was crowded with people that day. 
Now and again the roll of the drum, or the stirring notes of "Dixie," would 
lie heard, as some volunteer company marched down to the river to witness 
the departure of the entire Confederate navy. Slowly the vessel dropped 
down the river, and, rounding the English turn, boomed out with her great 
gun a parting salute to the city she was never more to see. Ten miles from 
the mouth of the river she stopped ; for anchored off the bar below lay the 
powerful United States steamer "Brooklyn," with three other men-of-war, 
each more than a match for the infant navy of the Confederacy. Eleven 
days the "Sumter" lay tugging at her anchors in the muddy current of 
the great river, but at last the time of action arrived. The news came 
that the "Brooklyn" had started in chase of a vessel, and the mouth of 
the river was clear. Quickly the "Sumter" got under way, and with ail 
steam up made for the channel over the bar. She was still six miles 
from the bar when the " 15rookIyn " caught sight of her, and abandoning her 
first rhase strove desperately to head her off. It was a time of intense 
txciicment. Each vessel was about equally distant from the bar for which 



588 BLUE-JACKETS OF 'Oi. 



each was steaming at the highest possible speed. For the "Sumter," il 
was escape or die. It was too late to fly up the river to the sheltering 
guns of Fort St. Philip. Should the "Brooklyn" get within range, the 
"Sumter" was doomed. The "Brooklyn " was the faster vessel of the two, 
but had the wind in her teeth ; while the "Sumter" had the advantage of 
wind and current. At length the pass was reached, and the "Sumter" 
dashed over the bar, and out on the smooth blue water of the Gulf of 
Mexico, well ahead of her powerful foe. The " Brooklyn " quickly rounded 
to, and a quick puff of smoke from amidships told the crew of the flying 
vessel that the terrible pivot-gun of their enemy had sent a warning 
message after them. But there was but a second of suspense, when a 
great jet of water springing from the surface of the gulf told that the bolt 
had fallen short. The " Brooklyn " then quickly crowded on all sail, and 
started in hot pursuit, but after four hours abandoned the chase, put un 
her helm, and started sullenly back for the river's mouth ; while the tars 
of the "Sumter " crowded shrouds and bulwarks, and cheered heartily for 
the nax'v of the young Confederacy. 

The "Sumter" was now fairly embarked on her career. The open sci 
was her territory, and all shins floating the stars and stripes at the ma<t 
head were to be her pre\' She was not a strong vessel ; and her orders; 
were to avoid any battles with the powerful ships of the "Yankee" navy, 
but to seize and destroy all merchantmen that should come in her 
way. Her first purpose was to capture these vessels, and by selling them 
in neutral ports profit by the prize. By\{ the neutral nations soon refused 
to admit all rebel prizes to their ports ; and, as all the jiorts of the 
Confederacy were closed by the blockade, nothing was left but to burn 
the vessels when captured. Many a floating bonfire marked the way of the 
little "Sumter," and great was the consternation among the ship-owners of 
the North. 

When four days out, the "Sumter" captured her first prize. She was a 
fine shi]:i, the "Golden Rocket" of Maine, si.\ hundred and ninety tons. 
With the United States flag fluttering at the peak, she came sailing proudly 
towards her unsuspected enemy, from whose peak the red flag of England 
was displayed as a snare. When the two vessels came within a mile of 
each other, the wondering crew of the merchantman saw the ICnglish flag 
come tumbling down, while a ball •>[ bunting rose quickly to the peak of 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 5^9 

liic mysterious stran;^cr, and catching the breeze floated out, showing a 
strange flag, — the stars and bars of the Confederacy. At the same minute 
a puff of smoke from the "Long Tom " amidships was followed by a solid 
shot ricochetting along the water before tlie dismayed merchantman, and 
conveying a forcible, but not at all polite, invitation to stop. The situation 
dawned on the astonished skipper of the ship, — lie was in the hands of 
'•the Rebels ;" and with a sigh he brought his vessel up into the wind, and 
awaited the outcome of the adventure. And bad enough the outcome was 
for him ; for Capt. Scmmes, unwilling to spare a crew to man the prize, 
determined to set her on fire. It was about sunset when the first boat put 
off from the "Sumter" to visit the captured ship. The two vessels were 
lying a hundred yards apart, rising and falling in unison on the slow rolling 
swells of the tropic seas. The day was bright and warm, and in the west 
the sun was slowly sinking to the meetirg line of sky and ocean. All was 
quiet and peaceful, as only a si mmer afternoon in Southern seas can be. 
Yet in the midst of all that peace and quiet, a scene in tlie great drama 
of war was being enacted. Nature was peaceful, man violent. 

For a time nothing was heard save the measured thump of the oars in 
the rowlocks, as the boats plied to and fro between the two ships, trans- 
jiorting the captured crew to the " Sumter." Finally the last trip was made, 
and the boat hoisted to the davits. Then all e)-es were turned toward 
tlic "Golden Rocket." She lay almost motionless, a dark mass on the black 
ocean. The sun had long since sunk beneath the horizon ; and the darkness 
of the night was only relieved by the brilliancy of the stars, which in 
those latitudes shine with wondrous brightness. Soon the watches on 
the "Sumter" caught a hasty breath. A faint gleam was seen about the 
companionway of the " Rocket." Another instant, and with a roar and 
crackle, a great mass of flame shot up from the hatch, as from the crater 
of a volcano. Instantly the well-tarred rigging caught, and the flame ran 
up the shrouds as a ladder of fire, and the whole ship was a towering mass 
of flame. The little band of men on the "Sumter" looked on the terrific 
scene with bated breath. Though they fully believed in the justice of their 
cause, they could not look on the destruction they had wrought without 
feelings of sadncs.s. It was their first act of war. One of the officers of 
the "Sumter" writes: " I-'cw, few on board can forget the spectacle, — a 
ship set fire to at sea. It would seem that man was almost warring with his 



59<5 BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 

Maker. Her helpless condition, the red flames licking the rigging as they 
climbed aloft, the sparks and pieces of burning rope taken off by the wind, 
mid flying miles to leeward, the ghastly glare thrown upon the dark sea as 
far as the eye could reach, and then the deathlike stillness of the scene, — 
all these combined to place the "Golden Rocket" on the tablet of our 
memories forever." But it was not long before the crew of tlie ".Sumter" 
could fire a vessel, and sail away indifferently, with hardly a glance at their 
terrible handiwork. 

The "Sumter" continued on her cruise, with varying fortunes. Some- 
times weeks would pass with no prizes to relieve the tedium of the long 
voyage. Occasionally she would run into a neutral port for coal or water, 
but most of the time was spent on the open sea. The crew were kept 
actively employed with drills and exercises ; while the officers, yawning over 
their books or games, longed for the welcome cry from the masthead, " .Sail 
ho!" In September the "Sumter" captured a brig, the "Joseph Park;" 
and the boarding officer, on examining the log-book, found an entry made 
) y her captain on the day of leaving Pernambuco : " We have a tight, 
list vessel, and we don't care for Jeff Davis." The unlucky captain had 
holloaed long before he was out of the wood. 

The "Joseph Park" was the last prize the tars of the "Sumter" had 
the pleasure of "looting " for many days. Up and down the tropic seas the 
cruiser travelled, loitering about the paths of ocean commerce to no avail. 
Often enough the long-drawn hail of the look-out in the cross-trees, " Sail 
ho-o-o-o ! " would bring the jackies tumbling up from the forecastle, and set 
the officers peering anxiously through their telescopes. But the sails so 
sighted proved to be English, French, Spanish, any thing but American ; 
and life aboard the "Sumter" became as dull as a fisher's where fish arc not 
to be tound. In September Capt. Semmes ran his \csscl into a Martinique 
harbor, to make some needed repairs, and give tlie sailors a run ashore. 
Here they were blockaded for some time by the United States frigate 
" Iroquois," but finally escaped through the cunning of Semmes. Lying in 
tiie harbor near the " Sumter " were two Yankee schooners, whose cap- 
tains arranged with the commander of the "Iroquois" to signal him if the 
"Sumter" sluuld leave the harbor. If on passing the bar she headed soutn, 
a single red light should gleam at the masthead of the schoonci ; should 
her course lie northward, two lights would be displayed. Semmes, i_\mg at 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 591 

anchor in the bay, and chafing over his captivity, determined to break away. 
He had noticed the frequent communications between the schooners and 
the man-of-war, and suspected that his course would be spied out. Never 
thclcss, he determined to dare all, and one black night slipped his cables, 
and with all lights out, and running-gear muffled, glided swiftly out of the 
harbor. In the distance he could see the lights of the " Iroquois," as she 
steamed slowly up and down in the offing, like a sentry on guard. Up in 
the cross-trees of the " Sumter " sat a sharp-eyed old quarter-master, with 
orders not to mind the " Iroquois," but to keep a close watch on the 
suspected schooners. Soon a light gleamed from the main-top of each. 
Semmes's suspicions grew. "They have signalled our course," said he: 
"we'll double." The ship's head was quickly brought about, and headed 
south ; then all turned to watch the movements of the " Iroquois." She had 
headed northward, and was exerting every power to catch the flying vessel 
supposed to be just ahead. Satisfied with having so successfully hum- 
bugged the enemy, the " Sumter " proceeded leisurely on her course to the 
southward, leaving the "Iroquois" steaming furiously in the opposite direc- 
'ion. "I do think, however," writes Capt. Semmes in his log-book, "that 
i. tough old quarter-master, and a grizzled boatswain's mate, who had clean 
shaven their heads in preparation for a desperate fight, were mightily 
disgusted." 

The subsequent career of the "Sumter" vvas uneventful. She captured 
but few more vessels ; and in January of the next year ran into the harbor 
at Gibraltar, where she was blockaded by a powerful United States frigate, 
and finally sold as being worn out. She had been in commission a little 
over a year, and in that time had captured eighteen vessels, burned seven, 
and released two on a heavy ransom to be paid to the Confederate Govern- 
ment at the end of the war. It is needless to say these ransoms were 
never paid. Capt. Semmes, with Jiis crew, proceeded to England, and took 
command of a mysterious ship, "No. 290," just built at Liverpool, which 
bOg.i appeared on the high seas as the dreaded "Alabama." 



^j -^tr I 




CHAPTER IV. 



THE POTOMAC FLOTILLA. — CAPTURE OF ALEXANDRIA. — ACTIONS AT MATTHIAS POINT. 
BOMBARDMENT OF THE HATTER.\S FORTS. 




N petty skirmishes and in general inactivity tlie forces of both 
contestants idled away the five months following the fall of Fort 
Sumter. The defeat of the Union armies at Bull Run had 
checked active operations along the Potomac. On either side 
of the river the hostile armies were drilling constantly to bring the raw 
recruits down to the efficiency of trained soldiers. Four hundred thousand 
men lay in hostile camps within sight of each other. From the national 
Capitol at Washington the stars and bars of the Confederate flag could 
be seen floating over the camp at Arlington. Occasionally the quiet would 
be broken by the crack of a rifle, as some straggler, on one side or the 
other, took a casual shot at the sentry pacing on the other side of the 
liroad stream. Sometimes a battery would come driving down to the shore, 
select an advantageous spot, and begin an afternoon's target practice at 
the hostile camp ; but the damage done was immaterial, and after wasting 
much powder and shot the recruits would limber up their guns and return 
to their camp. It would have been easy, at almost any time, for either army 
to have crossed the Pt)tomac and invaded the territory of the enemy ; 
but each hung back in apparent dread of taking the first decisive st'^D. 
592 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



593 



Abraham Lincoln at this time illustrated the existing condition of affairs, 
by one of those stories which have made him celebrated as a raconteur. 
A number of politicians, calling at the White House, spoke of the apparent 
inactivity of the army authorities, and demanded that some decisive mo\e 
should be made ; some powerful preparations to beat back the enem\' 
should he attempt to cross the Potomac. " Gentlemen," said Lincoln, with 
the twinkle in his eye that always foretold a story, " when I was a boy 
I saw an incident which I have always recollected, and which seems to 
me to resemble very much the attitude now assumed by the parties in 
this impending war. My father owned a dog, — a particularly vicious, 

aggressive, and pugnacious 
bull-terrier, — one of these 
fellows with heavy, short 
necks, and red, squinting 
eyes, that seem ever to be 
on the look-out for a fight. 
Next door to us lived a neigh- 
bor who likewise rejoiced in 
the possession of a canine 
of appearance and habits of 
mind similar to our pet. 
From the date of tlieir first 




W » 



r 




ILAU OF IHh LdNH.DLKALY. 



meeting these dogs had been deadly enemies, and had growled and yelped 
at each other through the picket-fence separating the two yards, until we 
were forced to keep at least one dog chained continually. The strained 
relations between the dogs became a matter of general interest, and specu- 
lations were rife among the neighbors as to the probable outcome of a hostile 
meeting. Those were the times when a lively dog-fight would draw the 
merchant from his counter, and the blacksmith from his anvil ; and it is 
even on record that an honorable judge once hurriedly adjourned his court 
at the premonitory sounds of snarling in the court-house square. Well 
the knowledge that two dogs, pining for a figlit, were being forcibly re- 
strained, was too much to be borne by the people of the village ; and a 
plot was concocted for bringing about a fight. One night two pickets 
were surreptitiously removed from the fence, leaving an opening of ample 

size to permit a dog to pass. In the morning our dog was sunning him- 
21 



594 BLUI^.-JACKRTS OF '6i. 

self in the yard, when the neighbor's dog rushed to his side of the fence, 
and made remarks not to be borne by any self-respecting canine. Then 
began the usual performance of snarls and barks, and baring of white teeth, 
as the dogs made frantic efforts to get at each other. The neighbors 
assembled in a crowd, and the knowing ones predicted a lively time when 
those two dogs found the hole in the fence. Down the line of the fence 
the two curs walked, their eyes glaring, their jaws snapping, their tongues 
out, and dropping foam. The racket was tremendous. At each place where 
the pickets were a little spread, they redoubled their efforts to clinch. They 
approached the opening. The interest of the spectators redoubled. Now 
they reached the spot; sprung at each other; their jaws touched, — and 
each, dropping his tail, slunk away to his kennel. Gentlemen, the attitude 
of these armies reminds me of that dog-fight." 

While the armies of the two contestants were thus idly resting upon 
their arms, the navy was obliged to discharge duties, which, while they 
brought some danger, did not gain glory for either officers or men. The 
joys of Washington society were not for the naval officers. The apphcant 
for promotion, who, when asked by an examiner, "Where is the post of a 
colonel when his regiment is drawn up for battle ? " responded promptly, 
" In Washington," had been serving in the army, and not with the naval 
corps. Besides the duties of the officers detailed upon the blockading 
service, there remained to the navy the arduous task of patrolling the 
Potomac River, and preventing as far as possible communication between 
the shores. 

This work, as may be readily understood, demanded the most untiring 
vigilance and the most unflagging energy. The shores on each side of 
the Potomac are indented with bays and tributary streams in which a sloop 
or large row-boat can easily be concealed during the day. At night it was 
impossible to prevent boats laden with contraband goods, or conveying the 
bearers of secret despatches, slipping across the river from the northern 
side, and running into the concealment afforded by the irregularity of th'e 
Virginia shore-line. Even at this early period of the war, the vigorous 
blockade of the Confederate sea-ports had created a great lack of many 
necessaries in the Southern States. Particularly did the lack of quinine 
affiict the people of those malarial sections comprised within the limits of 
the South Atlantic and Gulf States. So great was the demand for this 



BLUE-JACKE'IS OF '6i. 595 



..Iriig, that the enormous sums offered for it led many a speculative druggist 
north of Mason and Dixon's line to invest his all in quinine, and try to run 
it through the Potomac blockade. Of course, as the traffic was carried on 
in small boats, it was impassible to break it up altogether; though by tb.e 
efforts of the navy it was almost destroyed. 

Briefly stated, the duties of the Potomac flotilla may be said to have 
been to patrol the river from Washington to its mouth, to inspect both sides 
daily if possible, and to observe whether any preparations for batteries 
were being made at any point, and watch for any transports with troops or 
provisions, and convoy them to Washington. The flotilla consisted of 
small vessels, lightly armed ; the " Pawnee," the heaviest of the fleet, 
being a sloop of less than thirteen hundred tons, with a battery of fif- 
teen guns, none of long range. Clearly such an armada as this could be 
of but little avail against the earthworks which the Virginians were busily 
erecting on every commanding bluff. 

Toward the later part of May, 1861, the Federal Government deter- 
mined to send troops across the river and occupy the city of Alexandria. 
The " Pawnee " had for some days been lying off the town, completely 
covering it with her batteries. She had held this position without making 
any offensive movement ; as her commander understood, that, even should 
he compel the town to surrender, he had not the men necessary for holding 
the position. On the morning of the 24th, Commander Rowan saw two 
steamers coming down the river, laden with Federal troops. He at once 
sent a boat ashore, and demanded the surrender of the city, which was 
immediately evacuated by the Virginian troops. When the army of occupa- 
tion landed, it proved to be Ellsworth's famous Zouave Regiment, made up 
largely of the firemen and ''Bowery boys " of New York City. ICllsworth, 
while marching through the streets at the head of his command, saw a 
Confederate flag floating from a mast on top of a dwelling. With two of 
his men he proceeded to enter the house, go on the roof, and tear down the 
flag. As he came down the stairs, a man carrying a gun stej)i)ed from a 
doorway, and demanded what he did there. "This is my trophy," cried 
Ellsworth, flourishing the bit "of striped bunting. "And you are mine," 
••csponded the man, quickly bringing his gun up, and discharging it full 
into Ellsworth's breast. The two Zouaves, maddened at the death of their 
commander, shot the slayer through the brain, and plunged their bayonets 



596 BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 



into his body before he fell. Ellsworth's death created the greatest excite- 
ment in the North, as it was almost the first blood shed in the war. While 
the capture of Alexandria wns in itself no great achievement, it was of 
importance as the first move of the Northern armies into Virginia. 

Had the efforts of the navy towards keeping the Potomac clear of 
hostile batteries been sup]3lementcd by a co-operating land force, an 
immense advantage would have been gained at the very outset. As it 
was, all that could be done was to temporarily check the exertions of the 
enemy. A battery silenced by the guns from the ships in the daytime 
could be, and usually was, repaired during the night, and remained a 
constant menace to the transports going to or from Wasliington. Under 
such circumstances, the work of the Potomac flotilla could only be fatiguing 
and discouraging. Much of it had to be performed in row-boats ; and the 
crews of the various vessels were kept rowing up and down the banks of 
the river, making midnight excursions up creeks to examine suspected 
localities, and lying in wait for smugglers, and the mail-carriers and spie-; 
of the enemy. They were in continual danger of being opened upon by 
masked batteries and concealed sharp-shooters. The " prize money," the 
hope of wliich cheers up the man-o'-wars-man in his dreariest hours, 
amounted to nothing ; for their prizes were small row-boats and worthless 
river-craft. The few engager ents with the enemies' batteries brought 
little glory or success. In one battle on the 29th of May, 1861, a flotilla, 
consisting of the "Thomas Freeborn" (a paddle-wheel steamer, carrying 
three guns), the " Anacostia," and the " Resolute " (a little craft of ninety 
tons and two guns), engaged the batteries at Aquia Creek, and pounded 
away with their pygmy guns for two hours, without doing any visible 
damage. Two days later the bombardment waS renewed, and two of the 
vessels were slightly damaged. A more serious event occurred at Matthias 
Point in the latter part of June. Matthias Point was one of the chief 
lurking-places of the Confederate guerillas, who, concealed in the dense 
undergrowth along the hanks of the Potomac, could pour a destructive fire 
into any vessels that passed. Commander J. H. Ward of the "Freeborn" 
planned to break up this ambush, sending a landing party to cut away the 
trees and undergrowth. The landing party, commanded by Lieut. Chaplin, 
was to be covered by the guns of the "Freeborn " and "Reliance." It was 
late in the afternoon when they pushed off for the shore. All seenietl 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 597 

quiet ; and the bursting of the shells, which were occasionally dropped into 
the woods, seemed to have driven the enemy away. Hardly, however, had 
the sailors begun the work of hewing down the undergrowth, when from 
all quarters a hot fire was begun, driving them to their boats in a rout. 
The decks of the two vessels were swept by the storm of lead. Commander 
Ward, while sighting the bow-gun of the " Freeborn," was struck in the 
abdomen by a bullet, and died in a few minutes. On the shore the sailors 
were hurrying into the boats and jnishing off to avoid capture. Lieut. 
Chaplin acted with great bra\'ery, and succeeded in getting all his men 
away, with their muskets. The last man left on the shore was unable to 
swim ; and Chaplin, taking him on his shoulders, bore him safely to the 
boat. Though the fire of the enemy was concentrated on the two, neither 
was hurt, although a minie-ball passed through the lieutenant's cap. 

Two months later this same locality was the scene of another bloody 
disaster to the Union arms. On the i6th of August the " Resolute " and 
the " Reliance " were ordered to make a reconnoisance of the neighborhood 
of Matthias Point. After steaming about the shore for some time, antl 
noticing nothing of a suspicious character, a boat was seen on the Virginia 
shore, and an officer and five men despatched to capture her. They had 
just reached her, and were in the act of making fast, when a volley of 
musketry was fired from the bushes not more than five yards away, and 
three of the crew were instantly killed, and one wounded. The watchers 
on the war-vessels, lying in the river, sprang to their guns, and threw 
several rounds of shell into the cover that sheltered the enemy, soon driving 
them away. The two uninjured men in the boat succeeded in getting her 
away with her load of dead and dying. 

It is easy to understand how exasperating, how infuriating, such service 
as this must have been to the officers and men of the navy. For a man to 
risk his life in the heat and excitement of a battle, is as nothing to tlic 
feeling that one may be at any time caught in a death-trap, and slaughterea 
in cold blood. 

A more successful expedition was organized in October, by Lieut. 
Ilarrill of the steamer "Union." He had been informed that a large 
schooner was lying in Quantico Creek, and that the Confederates were 
'Tiassing a number of troops there for the purpose of crossing the river. 
He at once determined to destroy the schooner. Accordingly he manned 



598 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6£. 



three boats at half-past two in the morning, and in the darkness proceeded, 
with muffled oars, toward the mouth of the creek. Here some difficulty was 
experienced, as the entrance is narrow and obstructed by sandbars ; but 
working energetically, and in perfect silence, the sailors overcame all 
obstacles. Once in the creek, they pulled rapidly along within pistol-shot 
of the shore, until the tall masts of the schooner could be descried in the 




NAVAL PATROL ON THE POTOMAC. 



(iarkness. One sentry was on guard, who fled wildly as he saw the 
mysterious boat emerge from the darkness of the night. The grappling- 
irons were thrown aboard, and the jackios swarmed nimbly up the sides, and 
began the work of destruction. A huge pile of combustibles was made in 
the cabin, and hastily set on fire. The flames spread rapidly; and, though 
they insured the destruction of the schooner, they akso lighted up the creek, 
showing the boats with the sailors bending to their oars to escape the 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 599 

storm of bullets that they knew must follow. The glare of the burning 
schooner, the reflection of the flames on the water, the flash of the rifles 
from the shores made a wild picture. Occasionally a flash from the river 
was followed by a deep boom, as a heavy shot left the muzzle of a cannon 
on the steamers. But through it all, the men escaped ; and the projected 
invasion of the Confederates was abandoned, owing to the loss of their 
schooner. 

All through the war this untiring patrol of the Potomac was continued. 
Among miasmatic vapors and clouds of no.xious insects on mud-flats, in 
narrow channels whose densely wooded banks might conceal legions of 
hostile sharp-shooters, the river navy kept up its work. Earning but little 
glory, though in the midst of constant peril, the officers and men kept up 
their work, and contributed not a little to the final outcome of the great 
conflict. 

All this time the officers of the naval vessels, riding at anchor in 
Hampton Roads, were chafing under the enforced idleness. Even the 
occasional artillery duels with which their army brethren whiled away th^ 
time were denied to the wistful blue-jackets. Beyond an occasional chase, 
generally useless, after a fleet blockade-runner, the sailors had absolutely 
no employment. At last, however, the opportunity came. The first great 
naval expedition of the war was set under way. 

From Cape Henry, at the mouth of the James River, the coast of 
Virginia and North Carolina sweeps grandly out to the eastward, like a 
mammoth bow, with its lower end at Beaufort, two hundred miles south. 
Along this coast-line the great surges of mighty ocean, rolling with 
unbroken course from the far-off shore of Europe, trip and fall with 
unceasing roar upon an almost uninterrupted beach of snowy sand, a 
hundred and more miles long. Near the southern end of this expanse of 
sand stands a lighthouse, towering solitary above the surrounding plain ol 
sea and sand. No inviting beacon giving notice to the weary marine; 
of safe haven is this steady light that pierces the darkness night af'..er 
night. It tells of treacherous shoals and roaring breakers ; of the loss of 
many a good ship, whose ribs, half buried in the drifting sand, lie rotting 
in the salt air ; of skies ever treacherous, and waters ever turbulent. 
It is the light of Hatteras. 

Some twenty miles below Cape Hatteras light occurs the first great 



6oO BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 

opening in the stretch of sand that extends south from Cape Henry. Once 
he has passed through this opening; the mariner finds liimself in the most 
peaceful waters. The great surges of the Atlantic spend themselves or the 
sjidy fringe outside, while within are the quiet waters of Pamlico and 
Mbemarle Sounds, dotted with fertile islands, and bordering a coast ricii 
111 harbors. The wary blockade-runner, eluding the watchfulness of the 
United States blockaders cruising outside, had but to pass the portals of 
Hatteras Inlet, to unload at his leisure his precious cargo, and load up with 
the cotton which grew in great abimdance on the islands and fertile shores 
of the sound. 

Recognizing the importance of this harbor, the Confederates had early 
in the war fortified the point north of Hatteras Inlet. Shortly after tho 
fall of Fort Sumter, a Yankee skipper, Daniel Campbell, incautiously 
rr.nning his schooner the " Lydia Francis" too near the stormy cape, was 
wrecked, and sought 'shelter among the people at the inlet. When, some 
days after, he proposed to leave, he was astounded to find that he had been 
delivered from the sea only to fall a prey to the fortunes of war. He was 
kept a prisoner for three months ; and on his release, going directly to 
Fortress Monroe, he proved that he had kept his eyes open to some 
purpose. He reported to flag-officer Stringham that the Confederates had 
two batteries, — one of ten, the other of five guns, — known as Fort 
Hatteras and Fort Clark. With these two forts the Confederates claimed 
that they could control the entrance to Albemarle Sound. 

As soon as this information was received, an expedition for the destruc- 
tion of these forts was organized. It was necessarily chiefly naval, although 
a land force under Gen. Butler went with the fleet. On Aug. 25, 1861, 
Hampton Roads presented a scene of the greatest activity. The fleet 
seemed to have awakened from a long sleep. Every vessel was being 
hastily prepared for sailing. Two transports, the "George Peabody " and 
the "Adelaide," were crowded with the soldiers of Gen. Butler's command. 
From the mainmast of the flag-ship "Minnesota" waved the signal-flags. 
changing constantly as different orders were sent to the commanders of 
the other war-ships. At two o'clock three balls of bunting were run up 
to the truck, and catching the breeze were blown out into flags, giving the 
order, "Get under way at once." From the surrounding men-of-war came 
the shrill pipe of the boatswains' whistle, and the steady tramp of the men at 



BLUR-JACKETS OF '6i. 6oi 



the capstan bars as they dragged the anchors to the cat-heads. The nimble 
bkie-jackets, climbing about the shrouds and yards, soon had the snowy 
clouds of canvas set. The wind was fresh; and with bands playing, and 
cheers of blue-jackets and soldiers, the stately squadron sailed down the bay. 

But none on board, save the superior officers, knew whither the fleet 
was bound. Hardly were they fairly on the Atlantic, when the course 
was shaped to the southward, and that much was settled. But whether 
New Orleans, Charleston, or Beaufort was the point to be attacked, the 
sailors did not know. 

The squadron which sailed from Hampton Roads consisted of the war- 
vessels " Minnesota," "Wabash," "Pawnee," " Monticello," and "Harriet 
Lane;" the transports "George Peabody " and "Adelaide;" and the tug 
" Fanny." Soon after rounding Cape Henry, the vessels became separated ; 
and when the other vessels reached Hatteras, on the 27th, the "Minnesota" 
and "Wabash" were nowhere to be seen. As these were the most 
powerful frigates of the fleet, great fears were felt for the success of the 
expedition ; but at last they appeared on the horizon. A place for landing 
was selected, and the vessels withdreAv into the offing to spend the night. 
It was determined to begin the attack early the ne.xt day. 

The morning dawned clear, with a calm sea. At four o'clock the 
men were summoned to breakfast. At seven the operation of landing the 
troops was begun. All the surf-boats, barges, and life-boats in the fleet 
were put to the work. The great war-vessels moved into position, and 
prepared to cover with a terrific fire the landing of the troops. The first 
shot was fired by the " Wabash," and the cannonading was at once taken 
up by the rest of the fleet. The vessels were placed so that a whole 
broadside could be discharged at once. Thousands of pounds of iron balls 
were thrown into the forts. Under cover of the cannonading, the disem- 
barkation of the troops began. 

But the opposition of the enemy was not the only difficulty to be met 
During the time consumed in getting ready to land, heavy banks of cloud.s 
iiad been crawling up from the horizon, and the soft wind of morning had 
grown into a steady blow. Cape Hatteras was true to its reputation. On 
the shelving beach, where the troops must land, the great rollers were 
breaking in torrents of foam. The first life-boats that attempted the 
landing were swamped, and the soldiers reached the land wet and chilled 



602 



]!LUE-JACKE'IS OF '6i. 



through. The surf-boats were stove in. The barges, which had been 
relied upon to land men in large numbers, proved unmanageable, and were 
towed away by the " Harriet Lane." When the attempt to land the troops 

was given up, it was found that but three hundred and twenty men had 




s\ -r -' 









ATT.\CK ON THE HATTER.\S KURTS. 



been landed. This was too small a party to storm the forts, and the issue 
of the battle depended upoi the great guns of the navy. 

By this time the gunners on the ships had calculated the exact range, 
and were firing with fearful effect. Broadside followed broadside, with 



BLUE-JACKIiTS OF '6i. 603 



the regularity of machinery. It was war without its horrors for the 
blue-jackets, since bad marksmanship or poor powder prevented the Con- 
federate gunners doing any damage. On the gun-deck of the superb frigate 
"Minnesota," the jackies were working their guns as coolly as though they 
were on drill. The operations of loading and firing were gone through 
with like clock-work. The officers could watch the course of the shells 
until they struck, and instruct the men, without undergoing any danger. 

But in the forts the scene was one of terror. As soon as the gunners 
of the fleet had secured the range, the shells began crashing into the fort, 
bewildering the untried soldiers, and driving them from their guns. A 
shell falling in the fort, and bursting, would sweep clean a space thirty feet 
square. It was madness to try to work the guns. All sought refuge in 
the bomb proofs, and an occasional shot was all that showed the presence 
of any defenders in the forts. Soon the Confederates decided to abandon 
Fort Clark, the smaller of the two, and mass their forces in Fort Hatteras. 
As a ruse, to check the bombardment of the ships, the flags on both forts 
were hauled down. This was, of course, taken as a token of surrender : 
and as the cannonading stopped, and the clouds of gray gunpowder-smoke 
lifted, the shrouds of the bombarding squadron were filled with men, and 
cheer upon cheer rang out in honor of the victory. Soon the troops 
occupied the deserted battery, and the "Monticello" was ordered into the 
inlet to take possession of Fort Hatteras. She had proceeded onl)' a little 
way, however, when suddenly a heavy fire was opened upon her from the 
fort, and at the same time a large body of re-enforcements was seen 
approaching from the south. The gunners came down from the shrouds, 
stopped cheering, and began their work again. For a time the " Monti- 
cello" was in a dangerous position. In a narrow and unknown channel, she 
was forced to retreat slowly, under heavy fire from the fort, being hit eight 
times. The heavy fire of the other vessels, however, soon drove the Con- 
federate gunners from their guns. The sailors worked untiringly, and 
seemed enraged by the deceit practised by the enemy. One man, while 
sponging out a gun, preparatory to reloading it, dropped his sponge over- 
board. Quick as thought he vaulted the gunwale, and re-appeared on the 
surface of the water swimming for the sponge. Recovering it, he in a few 
moments crawled dripping through a porthole, to report respectfully to the 
captain of the gun : "Just come aboard, sir." 



604 BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 

The fort abandoned by the Confederates had been occupied by the 
troops that had been landed ; and, under cover of the furious bombardment, 
the worli of landing was vigorously prosecuted. Night came, and with it 
a gale so heavy that the vessels had to desert their stations, and withdraw 
into the offing. When the morning broke, however, the sea had calmed 
sufficiently to allow the gunners to again set about their terrible work. 

The second day's firing was even more accurate than that of the first ; 
and the gray-coats were soon compelled to retire to the bomb-proofs, and 
abandon all attempt to return the fire of the ships. Soon three shells in 
rapid succession burst close to the magazine of the fort, telling plainly 
to the affrighted defenders that nothing was left for them but surrender. 
A white flag was raised, and Commodore Barron went off to the fleet to 
formally surrender the forts and the eight hundred men of his command. 
When the terms were concluded, the defeated soldier turned to flag-officer 
Stringham, and asked if the loss of life on the ships had been very large. 
" Not a man has been injured," was the response. " Wonderful ! " exclaimed 
the questioner. " No one could have imagined that this position could 
have been captured without sacrificing thousands of men." But so it was. 
Without the loss of a man, had fallen a most important post, together wiih 
cannon, provisions, and nearly seven hundred men. 





CHAPTER V. 

T IF. "TRENT" AFFAIR. —OPERATIONS IN ALBEMARLE AND P.\MLICO SOUNDS. — DESTRUCTION 
OF THE CONFEDERATE FLEET. 






ARLY in the war an event occurred which for a time seemed 
likely to bring England to the aid of the Confederates. The 
Confederate Government had appointed as diplomatic commis- 
sioners to England two gentlemen, Messrs. Mason and Slidell. 
They had escaped from Mobile on a fleet blockade-runner, and reached 
Havana, where they remained a week waiting for the regular English 
packet to convey them to Liverpool. While in Havana they were lavishly 
entertained by the colony of Confederate sympathizers there; and feeling 
perfectly safe, now that they were outside the jurisdiction of the United 
States, they made no attempt to conceal their official character, and boasted 
of the errand upon which they were sent. 

The United States frigate " San Jacinto," which was one of the many 
vessels kept rushing about the high seas in search of the privateer 
" Sumter," happened to be in the harbor of Havana at this time. She was 
commanded by Capt. Wilkes, an officer who had made an exhaustive study 
of international law, particularly as bearing upon the right of a war-vessel 
to search a vessel belonging to a neutral nation. Capt. Wilkes, knowing 
that by capturing the Confederate commissioners, he could win for himself 

605 



6o6 BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 

the applause of the entire North, determined to make the attempt. By 
a study of his books bearing on international law, he managed to convince 
himself that he was justified in stopping the British steamer, and taking 
from it by force the bodies of Messrs. Mason and Slidell. Accordingly he 
set sail from the harbor of Havana, and cruised up and down at a distance 
jf more than a marine league from the coast, awaiting the appearance of the 
vessel. Five days after the "San Jacinto's " departure, the commissioners 
set sail in the British mail-steamer "Trent." She was intercepted in the 
Bahama Channel by the "San Jacinto."' When the man-of-war fired a 
blank cartridge as a signal to heave to, the commander of the " Trent " 
ran the British flag to the peak, and continued, feeling secure luidcr the 
emblem of neutrality. Then came a more peremptory summons in the 
shape of a solid shot across the bows ; and, as the incredulous captain of 
the "Trent" still continued his course, a six-inch shell was dropped within 
about one hundred feet of his vessel. Then he stopped. A boat put off 
from the "San Jacinto," and made for the "Trent." Up the side of the 
merchant-vessel clambered a spruce lieutenant, and demanded the immediate 
surrender of the two commissioners. The captain protested, pointed to the 
flag with the cross of St. George waving abo\e his head, and invoked the 
power of her Britannic majesty, — all to no avail. The two commissioners 
had retired to their cabins, and refused to come out without being compelled 
by actual force. The boat was sent back to the " San Jacinto," and soon 
returned with a file of marines, who were drawn up with their muskets oi; 
the deck of the " Trent." Every British ship which carries mails carries a 
regularly commissioned officer of the navy, who is responsible for them. 
This officer on the "Trent" was somewhat of a martinet, and his protests 
at this violation of the rights of a neutral vessel were very vigorous. 
When the first gun was fired, he rushed below, and soon re-appeared in all 
the resplendent glory of gold lace and brass buttons wliich go to make up 
a naval uniform. He danced about the deck in an ecstasy of rage, and 
made the most fearful threats of the wrath of the British people. The 
passengers too became e.xcited, and protested loudly. Every thing pos- 
sible was done by the people of the "Trent" to put themselves on 
ecord as formally protesting. Nevertheless, the commissioners were taken 
awa)', carried to New York, and from there sent into confinement at l'\)rt 
Warren. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 607 

When the news of this great achievement became known, Wilkes was 
made the lion of the hour. Unthinking people met and passed resolutions 
of commendation. He was tendered banquets by cities. He was elected a 
member of learned societies in all parts of the country, and was generally 
eulogized. Even the Secretary of the Navy, who should have recognized 
the grave troubles likely to grow out of this violation of the principles of 
neutrality, wrote a letter to Capt. Wilkes, warmly indorsing his course, and 
only regretting that he had not captured the steamer as well as the two 
commissioners. 

But fortunately we had wiser heads in the other executive departments 
of the government. President Lincoln and Secretary Seward quickly dis- 
avowed the responsibility for Wilkes's action. Letters were written to the 
United States minister in England, Charles Francis Adams, alluding to the 
proceeding as one for which Capt. Wilkes as an individual was alone respon- 
sible. And well it was that this attitude was taken : for hardly had the news 
reached England, when with one voice the people cried for war. Sympathiz- 
ing with the South as they undoubtedly did, it needed but this insult to the 
British flag to rouse the war spirit of the nation. Transports loaded with 
troops were immediately ordered to Canada; the reserves were called out; 
the ordnance factories were set running day and night ; while the press of 
the nation, and the British minister at Washington, demanded the immediate 
release of the captives, and a full apology from the United States. 

The matter was conducted on this side with the utmost diplomacy. We 
were undoubtedly in the wrong, and the only thing was to come out with 
as little sacrifice of national dignity as possible. The long time necessary 
for letters to pass between this country and England was an important 
factor in calming the people. Minister Adams said, that, had the Atlantic 
cable then been in operation, nothing could have prevented a war. In the 
end the demands of Great Britain were acceded to, and the commissioners 
proceeded on their way. The last note of the diplomatic correspondence 
was a courteous letter from President Lincoln to the British minister, offer- 
ing to allow the British troops en route for Canada to land at Portland, Me., 
and thus avoid the long winter's march through New Brunswick. The 
peaceful settlement of the affair chagrined the Confederates not a little, as 
they had hoped to gain Great Britain as a powerful ally in their fight 
against the United States. 



6o8 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



Soon after the capture of the forts at Hatteras Inlet, the authorities 
of the Union again turned their attention in that direction, with the result 
of sending the Burnside expedition to Albemarle Sound. 

The coast of North Carolina is honeycombed with rivers, inlets, and 
lagoons, which open into the two broad sounds known as Pamlico and 
Albemarle, and which are protected from the turbulence of the Atlantic 
by the long ridge of sand which terminates at Cape Hatteras. While the 
capture of the Hatteras forts had given the Union authorities control of 
Hatteras Inlet, the chief entrance to the sounds, yet the long, narrow island 
was broken by other lesser inlets of a size sufficient to permit the passage 
of light-draught steamers. The Confederates had quite a fleet of swift, 
light vessels of insignificant armament, often only a single gun, with which 
they occasionally made a descent upon some coaster or merchantman, 
running close inshore, and dragged her in as a prize. With these swift 
steamers, too, they effectually controlled all navigation of the sounds. But 
the greatest advantage that they derived from their control of the sounds 
vvas the vast facilities given them for constructing, at their leisure, powerful 
iron-clads in some of the North Carolina ship-yards; then sending them to 
reduce the Hatteras forts, and so out into the Atlantic to fight for the 
destruction of the blockade. All these conditions were clear to the authori- 
ties of the Union ; and therefore, in the early part of January, 1862, a joint 
military and naval exjoedition was fitted out for operation against the 
Confederate works and steamers in these inland waters. It was in the 
early days of the war ; and the flotilla was one of those heterogeneous 
collections of remodelled excursion-steamers, tugs, ferry-boats, and even 
canal-boats, which at that time was dignified with the title of "the fleet." 
In fitting out this expedition two very conflicting requirements were fol 
lowed. In the most favorable circumstances, the channel at Hatteras Inlet 
is seldom over seven and a half feet : consequently the vessels must be of 
light draught. But the Confederate steamers in the sounds carried heav 
rifled cannon, and the armament of the forts on Roanoke Island was 
of the heaviest : therefore, the vessels must carry heavy guns to be able to 
cope with the enemy. This attempt to put a heavy armament on the gun- 
deck made the vessels roll so heavily as to be almost unseaworthy. 

In addition to the armed vessels belonging to the navy, a number of 
transports accompanied the expedition, bearing the army corps under the 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 6oq 

command of Gen. Burnside ; and the whole number of craft finally assem- 
bled for the subjugation of the North Carolina sounds was one hundred 
and twenty. This heterogeneous assemblage of vessels was sent on a 
voyage in the dead of winter, down a dangerous coast, to one of the 
stormiest points known to the mariner. Hatteras was true to its reputa- 
tion ; and, when the squadron reached the inlet, a furious north-easter was 
blowing, sending the gray clouds scudding across the sky, and making the 
heavy rollers break on the beach and the bar in a way that foretold certain 
destruction, should any hardy pilot attempt to run his ship into the narrow 
and crooked inlet. Outside there was no safe anchorage, and the situa- 
tion of the entire squadron was most precarious. Several serious mishaps 
occurred before the vessels got into the small and altogether insufficient 
harbor between the seaward bar and the " bulkhead " or inner bar. The 
first vessel to come to grief was one of the canal-boats laden with hay, oats, 
and other stores. She was without any motive power, being towed by a 
steam-tug, and, getting into the trough of the sea, rolled and sheered so 
that she could not be towed. The heavy rolling started her seams, and it 
was soon evident that she was sinking. With the greatest caution a boat 
was lowered from one of the steamers, and put off to rescue the crew of 
the foundering craft. Laboriously the sailors worked their way through the 
tossing sea to the lee side of the "Grape-shot," and after much difficulty 
succeeded in taking off all on board, and the return trip was commenced. 
All went well until the boat came under the lee of the steamer, and the 
men were about to clamber up the sides. Suddenly an immense sea lifted 
the vessel high in the air; and in an instant the boat was swamped, and the 
men were struggling in the icy water. All were ultimately saved, but it 
was with the greatest difficulty. The " Grape-shot," left to her fate, went 
ashore some fourteen miles above Hatteras. Her cargo served some practi- 
cal use, after all ; for some horses from the wreck of the " Pocahontas " 
managed to reach the shore, and kept themselves alive by munching the 
water-soaked hay and oats. 

The " Pocahontas " was one of the steamers chartered by the war 
department as a horse transport. Her actions during this gale furnish 
a fair illustration of the manner in wliicli the Government was often 
deluded into purchasing almost valueless ships. She started with the 
Burnside expedition from Hampton Roads, freighted with one hundred 



6>0 BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



and thirteen horses. As soon as the gale off Hatteras came on, she began 
to show signs of unseaworthiness. First the boilers gave way, loosened 
from their places by the heavy rolling of the ship. All progress had to 
be stopped until they were patched up. Then down fell the grates, 
extinguishing the fires. Then the steering-gear was broken ; and, getting 
into the trough of the sea, she rolled until her smoke-stack broke its 
moorings and fell over. Finally she sprung a leak and was run ashore. 
The crew were all saved, but for a long time their chances for life seemed 
small indeed. Ninety of the horses were lost, some having been thrown 
overboard ten miles from the land. Others were left tied in their stalls, 
to perish when the ship went to pieces in the breakers. Those that were 
thrown overboard near the beach swam ashore through breakers in which 
no boat nor man could live, and, finding the waste and wreckage from the 
cargo of the " Grape-shot," lived for days on the hay and oats, soaked with 
sea-water though they were. 

For two days this gale continued. The out-look for the fleet seemed 
hopeless. The inner bar of the harbor was absolutely impassable. Between 
the outer bar and the inner were packed seventy vessels. This space, 
tliough called a harbor, was almost unsheltered. Crowded with vessels as 
it was, it made an anchorage only less dangerous than that outside. 
Although the vessels were anchored, bow and stern, the violence of the 
sea was such that they frequently crashed into each other, breaking 
bulwarks, spars, and wheel-houses, and tearing away standing-rigging. A 
schooner breaking from its anchorage went tossing and twirling through 
the fleet, crashing into vessel after vessel, until finally, getting foul of a 
small steamer, dragged it from its moorings ;■ and the two began a waltz 
in the crowded harbor, to the great detriment of the surrounding craft. 
At last the two runaways went aground on a shoal, and pounded away there 
until every seam was open, and the holds filled with water. 

A strange mishap was that which befell the gunboat " Zouave." She 
was riding safely at anchor, remote from other ships, taking the seas nobly, 
and apparently in no possible danger. Her crew occupied themselves in 
going to the assistance of those in the distressed vessels, feeling that their 
own was perfectly safe. But during the night, the tide being out, the 
vessel was driven against one of the flukes of her own anchor; and as each 
wave lifted her up and dropped her heavily on the sharp iron, a hole was 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 6ll 



stove in her bottom, sinking her so quickly that the crew took to the boats, 
saving nothing. 

But the most serious disaster was the total wreck of the " City of New 
York," a large transport, with a cargo of ordnance stores valued at two 
hundred thousand dollars. Unable to enter the inlet, she tried to ride out 
the gale outside. The tremendous sea, and the wind blowing furiously on 
shore, caused her to drag her anchors ; and those on board saw certain death 
staring them in the face, as hour by hour the ship drifted nearer and 
nearer to the tumbling mass of mighty breakers, that with an unceasing roar, 
and white foam gleaming like the teeth of an enraged lion, broke heavily 
on the sand. She struck on Monday afternoon, and soon swung around, 
broadside to the sea, so as to be helpless and at the mercy of the breakers. 
Every wave broke over her decks. The condition of her crew was frightful. 
In the dead of winter, the wind keen as a razor, and the waves of icy 
coldness, the body soon became benumbed ; and it was with the greatest 
effort that the men could cling to the rigging. So great was the fury of 
the wind and waves, that no assistance could be given her. For a boat t.) 
venture into that seething caldron of breakers would have been throwing 
away lives. So the crew of the doomed ship were left to save themselves as 
best they might. The night passed away, and Tuesday morning saw the 
gale still blowing with unabated force. Hoping to lessen the strain on 
the hull, they cut away the foremast. In falling, it tore away the pipes, 
and the vessel became a perfect wreck. Numbed with cold, and faint for 
lack of food, the crew lashed themselves to the bulwarks and rigging ; and 
so, drenched by the icy spray, and chilled through by the wind, they spent 
another fearful night. The next day the fury of the storm seemed to have 
somewhat abated. The sea was still running high, and breaking over the 
almost unrecognizable hulk stranded on the beach. With the aid of a glass, 
sailors on the other ships could see the inanimate forms of the crew lashed 
to the rigging. It was determined to make a vigorous attempt to save 
them. The first boat sent out on the errand of mercy was watched eagerly 
from all the vessels. Now it would be seen raised high on the top of some 
tremendous wave, then, plunging into the trough, it would be lost from the 
view of the anxious watchers. All went well until the boat reached the 
outermost line of the breakers, when suddenly a towering wave, rushing 
resistlessly along, broke directly over the stern, swamping the boat, and 



6l2 BLUE-JACKETS OF 'ei. 

drowning seven of the crew. Again the last hope seemed lost to the 
exhausted men on the wreck. But later in the day, the sea having gone 
down somewhat, a steam tug succeeded in reaching the wreck and rescuing 
the crew. The second engineer was the last man to leave the ship. He 
remained lashed to the mast until all were taken on the tug. Then, 
climbing to the top-mast, he cut down the flag that had waved during those 
two wild days and nights, and boreit safely away. 

After this gale died away, the work of getting the squadron over the 
inner bar was begun. It was a tremendous task. Many of the ships drew 
too much water for the shallow channel, and it was necessary to remove 
large parts of their cargoes. The bar, which is known as Buckhead Shoal, 
was an expanse of quicksand a mile wide, with a tortuous channel c>-er 
changing with the shifting sands. Many of the ships stranded, and the 
tugs were constantly busy in towing them off. Scarcely would one be 
safely afloat, than anotner would "bring up all standing" on some new 
shoal. Two weeks elapsed before all the vessels were safe within the 
landlocked sound. They were none too soon ; for hardly had the last vessel 
crossed the bar, than the black gathering clouds, the murky, tossing sea, and 
the foaming billows breaking on the bar, foretold another of the storms for 
which Cape Hatteras is famed. Through the storm a queer-looking craft 
was seen approaching the fleet. It was found to be a boat-load of escap- 
ing slaves, who had put to sea at random, feeling sure of finding "de 
Yankees " somewhere. From these men much valuable information was 
obtained. 

Up to this time no one in the fleet, excepting the superior officers, 
was informed as to the exact destination of the expedition. Now as the 
signal to get under way blew out from the foremast of the flag-ship, and 
as the prow of the leading vessel was turned to the northward, all knew, 
an.l all cried, " Roanoke Island." This island was heavily fortified by the 
Confederates, and from its position was a point of considerable strategic 
importance. It guards the entrance to Pamlico Sound from Albemarle 
Sound, and into Pamlico Sound open great bays and rivers that penetrate 
far into the interior of Virginia and North Carolina. On this island the 
Confederates had erected three forts of formidable strength. These forts 
commanded the channel through which the vessels would have to pass ; and 
to make the task doubly dangerous, the channel was obstructed with 



BLUE-JACKKTS OF '6i. 613 

sharpened piles and sunken hulks, so as to he apparently impassable. 
Beyond the obstructions was the Confederate fleet, which, though insignifi- 
cant compared with the attacking squadron, was formidable in connection 
with the forts. It was the task of the invaders to capture these forts, and 
destroy the fleet. 

It was on Feb. 5 that the squadron prepared to leave its moorings at 
Hatteras Inlet. It was an imposing spectacle. The flag-ship " Philadel- 
phia" led the naval squadron, which advanced with the precision of a body 
of troops. Behind, with less regularity, came the army transports. About 
one hundred vessels were in the three columns that moved over the placid 
waters of the sound toward the forts. It was five in the afternoon of a 
short February day that the fleet came in sight of the forts. Signals were 
made for the squadron to form in a circle about the flag-ship. The early 
darkness of winter had fallen upon the scene. The waters of the sound 
were smooth as a mill-pond. From the white cottages on the shore 
gleamed lights, and brilliant signal-lanterns hung in the rigging of the 
ships. Through the fleet pulled swift gigs bearing the commanders of 
the different vessels. 

The morning dawned dark and rainy. /,t first it was thought that the 
fog and mist would prevent the bombardmeiit, but all doubt was put at an 
end by the signal, " Prepare for action," from the flag-ship. The drums 
beat to quarters, and soon the guns were manned by sailors stripped to 
the waist. The magazines were opened ; and the surgeons cleared away 
the cock-pits, and spread out their glistening instruments ready for their 
work. 

The fleet got under way, and stood up the channel almost to the point 
where the 9bstructions were planted. Beyond these were the gunboats of 
the enemy. The cannonade was begun without loss of time. A- portion 
of the fleet began a vigorous fire upon the Confederate gunboats, while the 
others attacked the forts. The gunboats were soon driven away, and then 
the forts received the entire fire. The water was calm, and the aim of the 
gunners was admirable. The forts could hardly respond to the fire, since 
tiic great shells, plunging by hundreds into the trenches, drove the men 
from their guns into the bomb-proof casemates. The ofl^cers of the ships 
could watch with their gla.sses the effect of every shell, and by their 
directions the aim of the gunners was made nearly perfect. 



6i4 BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 

While the bombarding was going on, Gen. Burnside set about landing 
his troops near the southern end of the island. The first boat was fired 
upon by soldiers concealed in the woods. The "Delaware" instantly 
pitched a few shells into the woods from which the firing proceeded, and in 
a few minutes the enemy could be seen running out like rats from a burn- 
ing granary. The landing then went on unimpeded. The boats were 
unable to get up to the bank, owing to shoal water; and the soldiers were 
obliged to wade ashore in the icy water, waist-deep, and sinking a foot more 
in the soft mud of the bottom. 

The bombardment was continued for some hours after nightfall. A 
night bombardment is a stirring scene. The passionate and spiteful glare 
of the cannon-flashes; the unceasing roar of the e.xplosions ; the demoniac 
shriek of the shells in the air, followed by their explosion with a lightning 
flash, and crash like thunder; the volumes of gray smoke rising upon the 
dark air, — make up a wonderful and memorable sight. 

In the morning the bombardment was recommenced, and the work of 
landing troops went on. Eight gunboats were sent to tear away the 
obstructions in the channel; and there beneath the guns of the enemy's 
fleet, and the frowning cannon of the forts, the sailors worked with axe 
and ketch until the barricade was broken, and the eight ships passed to 
the sound above the forts. In the mean time, the troops on the island 
began the march ag^xinst the forts. There were few paths, and they groped 
their way through woods and undergrowth, wading through morasses, and 
tearing their way through tangled thickets to get at the enemy's front. 
The advance was slow, but steady, until the open field before the forts was 
reached; then a change was ordered, led by the famous Hawkins Zouaves, 
who rushed madly upon the fort, shouting their war cry of Zo/t, zou, con! 
Like a resistless flood the attackers poured over the earthworks, and the 
frightened defenders fled. Before five o'clock the entire island was in the 
h.ands of the troops, and the fleet had passed the barricade. During 
the bombardment the vessels sustained severe injuries. An act of hercism 
which made the hero celebrated was that of John Davis, gunner's mate on 
board the " Valley City." A shell entered the magazine of that ship, and 
exploded, setting the wood-work on fire. An open barrel of guniiowdcr 
stood in the midst of the flames, with sparks dropping about it. At any 
moment an explosion might occur which would .shatter the vessel to 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 615 



fragments. Men shrank Iwck, expecting every moment to be their last. 
With wonderful presence of mind Davis threw himself across the open end 
of the barrel, and with his body covered the dangerous explosive until the 
fire was put out. 

As soon as the stars and stripes were hoisted on the flagstaffs of the 
forts, the Confederate fleet, which had been maintaining a desultory fne, 
fled up the sound, after setting fire to one schooner which had become hope- 
lessly crippled in the battle. She blazed away far on into the night, and 
finally, when the flames reached her magazine, blew up with a tremendous 
report, seeming like a final involuntary salute paid by the defeated enemy 
to the prowess of the Union arms. When quiet finally settled down upon 
the scene, and Gen. Burnside and Commander Goldsborough counted up 
their gains, they found that six forts, twenty-five hundred prisoners, and 
forty-two great guns had fallen into the hands of the victors. The Union 
loss was forty killed and two hundred wounded. 

The next day was Sunday. It was considered highly important that the 
success of the day before should be vigorously followed up ; and an expedi- 
tion of fourteen vessels, under Capt. Rowan, was ordered to follow the 
retreating Confederate fleet and destroy it. The flying squadron was 
chased as far as Elizabeth City on the Pasquotank River. Here night over- 
took the pursuers ; and they came to anchor at the mouth of the stream, 
effectually cutting off all hope of retreat. The Confederates in the vessels 
lying off the town passed an anxious night. Outnumbered two to one by 
the pursuing vessels, they saw no hope of a successful resistance. With a 
courage which in view of the facts seems to be almost foolhardy, they 
determined to stick to their ships, and fight to the death. The feelings of 
the inhabitants of the town were hardly less gloomy. So thoroughly 
impregnable had they considered the forts at Roanoke Island, that they 
had made absolutely no preparations for defence; and now they found their 
homes upon the eve of capture. The victorious army had not yet had an 
opportunity to show the merciful way in which the inhabitants of captured 
cities were treated throughout the war ; and the good people of Elizabeth 
City may be excused for fearing, that, with the destruction of their fleet, 
they were to be delivered into the merciless hands of a lawless enemy. 

Morning dawned bright and clear. With the greatest deliberation the 
]-)reparations for action were made on the attacking vessels. It was 



6i6 BLUE-JACKETS OF '61 

discovered, that, owing to the continuous firing during the Roanoke Island 
engagement, but twenty rounds of ammunition per gun were left to each 
vessel. It was accordingly ordered that no long-distance firing should be 
done ; but each vessel should dash at the enemy, run him down if possible, 
rand then board and fight it out, hand to hand. Early in the morning the 
ileet started up the river. The enemy's fleet was soon sighted, lying 
behind the guns of a small battery on Cobb's Point. When within long 
range, battery and vessels opened a tremendous fire with eighty-pound 
rifles. The approach of the squadron continued until when within three- 
quarters of a mile the signal was flung out from the mast of the flag- 
ship, "Dash at the enemy." Then full speed was put on, and firing 
commenced from bow-guns. The Confederates became totally demoralized. 
The battery was abandoned when the first vessel poured her broadside 
into it as she passed. Before the enemy's fleet was reached, many of his 
vessels were fired and abandoned. The United States steamship " Perry " 
struck the "Sea-Bird" amidships, sinking her so quickly that the crew had 
scarce time to escape. The crew of the " Delaware " boarded the " Fanny," 
sabering and shooting her defenders until they fled over the side into the 
water. The victory was complete and overwlielming. Three or four of 
the victorious vessels at once proceeded to the town, where they found 
the enemy in full retreat and compelling the inhabitants to set fire to 
their houses. This was quickly stopped, and the invaders became the 
protectors of the conquered people. 

The power of the Confederates in this part of the country being so 
effectually destroyed, the navy was divided into small detachments and 
sent cruising up the lagoons and rivers opening into the North Carolina 
sounds, merely to show the people the power of the United States Govern- 
ment, and to urge them to cease their resistance to its authority. Three 
vessels were sent to Edenton. As they came abreast of the village, a 
company of mounted artillery precipitately fled. A detachment of marines 
sent ashore found a number of cannon which they destroyed, and a nearly 
completed schooner to which they set fire. Other small places were 
visited, generally without any opposition being encountered. 

A somewhat larger force was sent to a small town named Winton, as 
it had been rumored that a force of Union men were there disputing the 
authority of the Confederate Government, and the navy wished to go to 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. <5'7 



their assistance. The "Delaware" and "Hudson," in advance of the 
sc;uadron, came vVithin sight of the landing and warehouses of Winton 
pbout four in the afternoon. The town itself was hidden from the view 
,f the vessels by a high bluff. It was a clear, quiet afternoon, and all 
seemed peaceful. The long wharf, running out into the stream, was 
deserted by all save a negro woman, who, roused from her occupation of 
fishing, gazed inquisitively at the strange vessels. The place looked like 
a commercial port going to seed on account of the blockade. The two 
vessels proceeded on their way unmolested, ranging past the wharf, and 
apprehending no danger Suddenly from the woods on the bluff a terrific 
fire was poured upoii the vessels. The negress, having served her end as 
a decoy, fled hastily to shelter. The bluffs seemed to be held by two 
batteries of light artillery and a considerable force of armed men. Fortu- 
nately the aim of the artillery men was bad, and the vessels sustained no 
severe damage. Still, they were in a precarious position. The " Delaware " 
was too near to bring her battery to bear, and was obliged to turn slowly 
in the narrow channel. The "Perry." more fortunately situated, opened 
at once on the enemy with shrapnel. But the contest was unequal, and 
the two vessels were forced to retreat down the river about seven miles, 
there to await the remainder of the squadron. 

Two days after, the flotilla began the advance up the river, shelling the 
town as they ascended. Once opposite the town, the troops were landed, 
and the Hawkins Zouaves soon had possession of the bluff and town. 
Knapsacks, aumiunition, and muskets in considerable quantity fell into 
the hands of the victors ; and, after burning the barracks of the enemy, 
the squadron returned to the base of operations at Roanoke Island. 





CHAPTER VI. 

REDUCTION OF NEWBERN. — EXPLOITS OF LIEUT. GUSHING. — DESTRUCTION 
OF THE RAM "ALBEMARLE." 




FTER the destruction of the Confederate flotilla at Elizabeth 
City, and the affair at Winton, the Union fleet remained quietly 
at anchor off Roanoke Island, or made short exxursions up the 
little rivers emptying into the sounds. Over a month passed in 
comparative inaction, as the ships were awaiting supplies and particularly 
ammunition. When finally the transports from New York arri\ed, and 
the magazines of the war-vessels were filled with shot and shell and gun 
powder, they again turned their attention to the enemy. The victories 
already won had almost driven the Confederates from that part of North 
Carolina which borders on the sounds. Roanoke Island, Elizabeth Citv, 
Edenton, and Plymouth had one after the other yielded to the persuasive 
eloquence of the ship's cannon, and there was left to the Confederates only 
one fort, — Newbern, on the River Neuse. As a city Newbern is insignifi- 
cant ; but as a military post it was of a good deal of importance, and the 
Confederates had made active preparations for its defence. 

It was on the 12th of March, 1862, that Commander Rowan started 
from Hatteras Inlet with a flotilla of thirteen vessels, and army transports 
bearing three thousand men. The long column steamed down the placid 
618 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 619 

waters of Pamlico Sound, and, turning into the Neuse River, anchored 
about fifteen miles below the city. Although the night before the battle, 
and within sight of the white steeples of the menaced city, all was quiet 
and peaceful. The banks of the broad stream were densely wooded, and 
from them could be heard at times the cry of the whip-poor-will, or the 
hoot of the night-owl. The vessels were anchored far out in the middle 
of the stream, so as to avoid the deadly bullets of any lurking sharp-shooters. 
The look-outs kept a close watch for floating torpedoes ; while the sailors 
off duty spun their yarns in the forecastle, and bet pipes and tobacco on 
the result of the coming battle. The jolly tars of the Burnside expedition 
had hardly yet learned that war was a serious matter. They had met with 
but little serious resistance, had captured powerful forts without losing 
a man, had chased and destroyed the Confederate fleet without any serious 
damage to their own, and felt, accordingly, that war was a game in which 
it was their part always to win, and the part of the enemy to nni away. 
Certainly the fight at Newbern did nothing to dispel this idea. 

When morning broke, the shrill piping of the boatswain's whistle 
brought the crew to their places on deck. Breakfast v.as served, and 
leisurely eaten ; for it is one of the established theories of the navy, that 
sailors cai>t fight on empty stomachs. Breakfast over, the work of landing 
the troops was begun. The point chosen was a broad beach fringed witli 
woods near the anchorage of the vessels. Before landing the troops, the 
ships threw a few shells into the woods, to make certain that they con- 
cealed no ambuscade, as in the disastrous affair at Matthias Point. After 
two dozen shells had burst, mowing down trees, and driving out frightened 
animals in plenty, but no sharp-shooters, the long-boats put off from the 
transports bearing the soldiers for the land attack. As soon as si.\ or seven 
hundred were landed, they formed in column, and moved rapidly up the 
beach. The others followed as rapidly as they couUl be put on shore. 
The gunboats steamed slowly up the river, keeping abreast of the troops, 
and throwing shells into the woods ahead of the attacking column. Had 
any Confederates prepared to resist the march, they must have been driven 
out of the forest before the Federals came within musket-range. Not an 
atom of resistance was made. The plans of the invaders seemed irresisti- 
ble. About half-past four in the afternoon, a puff of smoke rose from the 
river-bank far ahead of the leading vessel, and in a few seconds a heavy 



620 BLUE-JACKETS OF "61. 



shell plunged into the water a hundred yards ahead of the flotilla. T!)e 
enemy was getting awake to the situation. The gunboats soon returned 
the fire, and the cannonading was continued at long range, without damage 
ro cither side, until sundown, when the troops went into camp, and the 
vessels chose an anchorage near by. 

At daylight the next morning, the advance was resumed. The day was 
so foggy that the usual signals between the vessels could not be seen, and 
orders from the flag-ship had to be carried by boat. The fleet proceeded up 
the river; and, when the fog lifted, the ramparts of Fort Di.xie — the one 
that had fired on them the night before — were visible. A vigorous bom- 
bardment was at once begun ; but the fort failed to reply, and a storming- 
party sent ashore found it empty. Hoisting the stars and stripes above 
the deserted bastions, the ships went on. Soon they reached Fort Ellis. 
Here the firing was sharp on both sides. The fort was a powerful earth- 
work, well armed with rifles ranging from thirty-two to eighty pounders. 
The Confederates did but little damage with their guns; their aim bein^' 
bad for want of practice, and their powder of poor quality. Still, they 
fought on with great courage until a shell from the "Delaware" burst in 
the magazine, firing the powder there, and hurling the fort, with large 
numbers of its brave defenders, high in the air. This ended the- fight with 
[■"ort Ellis, and the fleet continued its way up the river. 

Shortly after passing Fort Ellis, two rows of obstructions were met in 
the channel. The lower barrier was composed of a series of piles dri\'en 
Into the river-bottom, and cut off below the water ; back of these came a 
row of pointed and iron tipped piles pointing down stream at such an 
angle as to be likely to pierce the hull of any vessel that should run upon 
them. Entwined about these piles was a cable connecting with thirty 
[Muverful torpedoes. That any vessel could pierce such a barrier seems 
almost incredible ; yet all the vessels of the flotilla passed, and but two 
were seriously injured. One of the sharp iron piles drove through the 
bottom of the " Barney," sending the crew to the pumps, and the carpenter 
down into the hold with his felt-covcrcd plugs. But her damages were 
quickly repaired, and she went on with the rest of the fleet. Right under 
the guns of Fort Thompson the second line of obstructions was encoun 
tered. It consisted of a line of sunken vessels closely massed, and a 
chex>al-de-frise of stakes and logs, that blocked the entire river, save a 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



621 




small passage close in shore under the guns of the battery. Here was 
more hard work for the sailors ; but they managed to creep through, and 
ranging up in line, broad- 
side to Fort Thompson, 
they opened a vigorous 
cannoriade upon that 
work. The condition of 
the gar-rison of the fort 
was desperate. The 
troops rhat had marched 
up the beach abreast of 
the vessels began a vig- 
orous attack on the land- 
ward face of the fcrt, 
while the vessels in the 
river kejit up a vigorous 
fire on the water-front. 
Soon the gunners of the fort were called away from the river-front to meet 
the hot assault of the soldiers on the land ; and, as the conflict grew close, 
the ships ceased firing, lest their shell should mow down foe and friend alike. 
Leaving the enemy to the attention of the soldiery, the ships proceeded 
up the river past two deserted forts that gave no answer to vigorous 
shelling. Just as the last vessel was passing Fort Thompson, the attacking 
troops, with a cheer, rushed upon the ramparts ; and in a minute the stars 
and stripes were fluttering from the flagstaff. This was the last resistance 
encountered, and at two p.m. the victors were in full possession of the city. 
The war ships sped up the river after three Confederate steamers that were 
endeavoring to escape, and soon captured them. One was run ashore and 
burned, while the other two were added to the conquering fleet. As a last 
resort, the flying enemy sent down a huge fire-raft, in the hope of burnin;,' 
some of the Union vessels ; but this was stopped by the piers of a railroad 
bridge, and, burning that, effectually cut off Newbern's communication with 
the world. During the entire two days' engagement, the navy did not lose 
a man on the ships. Two of a small landing-party were killed, and eleven 
wounded ; while of the soldiers there were killed eighty-eight, and wounded 
three hundred and fifty-two. This victory gave to the United States 



62 2 BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 



the entire control of the North Carolina sounds and triljutary navigable 
waters. 

For years after this, the sounds were occupied by a small squadron of the 
United States navy, mainly blockading cruisers. It was during these three 
years of occupation that Lieut. W. B. Gushing performed those wonderfully 
daring deeds that made him a name and fame apart from all other war- 
records. These feats so particularly belong to Cushing's record, rather than 
to the history of any years of the war, that they may well be considered 
together here. The wonderful exhibitions of daring by w'hich this young 
ofificer earned his promotion to the rank of a commander, while still hardly 
more than a boy, were the ascent of New River Inlet in the steamer 
" Ellis," for the purpose of destroying the enemy's salt-works, and a 
blockade-runner at New Topsail Inlet ; and finally, the great achievement 
of his life, the destruction of the ram "Albemarle" in tlie Roanoke Ri\'er. 

Lieut. Gushing entered the navy during the first year of the civil war, 
being himself at that time but nineteen years old. A comrade who served 
with him at the time of the destruction of the " Albemarle" describes him 
as about six feet high, very slender, with a smooth face, and dark wavy 
hair. Immediately upon his joining the navy, he was assigned to duty 
with the blockading squadron on the Atlantic coast. He distinguished 
himself during the first year of the war, at a time when the opportunities of 
the service were not very brilliant, by unfailing vigilance, and soon won for 
himself the honor of a command. In November, 1S62, he was put in 
command of the steamer " Ellis," and ordered to preserve the blockade 
of New River Inlet on the North Carolina coast, not far from the favorite 
port of the blockade-runners, Wilmington. The duties of a blockading 
man-of-war are monotonous, at best. Lying at anchor off the mouth of 
the blockaded harbor, or steaming slowly up and down for days together, 
the crew grow discontented ; and the officers are at their wits' end to devise 
constant occupation to dispel the turbulence which idleness always arouses 
among sailors. Inaction is the great enemy of discipline on board ship, 
and it is for this reason that the metal and trimmings aboard a man-of-wai 
are so continually being polished. A big brass pivot-gun amidships will 
keep three or four jackies polishing an hour or two everyday; and petty 
officers have been known to go around secretly, and deface some of the 
snowy wood-work or gleaming brass, when it seemed that surfaces to be 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 623 



polished were becoming exhausted. It is no unusual thing to set a gang 
of sailors to work rubbing away with polish on the flukes of the great 
anchors, merely to give them work. But while this sort of occupation may 
drive dull care away from the heart of Jack, his officers arc not so easily 
entertained ; and the dull routine of blockading duty at an unfrequented port 
is most wearisome to adventurous spirits. Particularly was this the case 
with Lieut. Gushing, and he was constantly upon the look-out for some 
perilous adventure. One day late in November, information was brought to 
him that the enemy had established large salt-works at Jacksonville, thirty- 
five miles up the river. Even thus early in the war, the vigorous blockade 
was beginning to tell upon the supplies of the Confederates ; and one of 
the articles of which the Southern armies were in the greatest need was 
salt. The distress caused by the lack of it was great. Many of the 
soldiers were in the habit of sprinkling gunpowder upon their food to give 
it a flavor approaching that of salt. In olden days, particularly in the 
British navy about the end of the eighteenth century, it was the custom 
for the captains to issue to their crews, before going into battle, large cups 
of grog with gunpowder stirred in. It was believed that this mixture made 
the men fight more desperately. But this theory of the doughty sea-dogs 
of past generations no longer finds any support, and doubtless the soldiers 
of the Confederacy felt they could fight better upon salt than on their 
enforced seasoning of gunpowder. At Manassas Junction, when the Con- 
federate army by a rapid movement captured a large provision train, the 
rush of the soldiers for two or three cars laden with salt was so great that 
a strong guard had to be stationed to beat back pilferers, and secure a 
proper division of the much-prized seasoning. 

The officers of the Union navy were well informed of this scarcity of 
salt throughout the South, and accordingly made it a point to destroy 
all salt-works along the coast. The officers of the Gulf squadron were 
constantly employed in raiding establishments of this character, of which 
there were numbers along the coast of Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi. 
Gushing, on hearing of the existence of salt-works in the district over 
which he stood guard, determined to destroy them. But to do this was 
a matter of no small peril. Jacksonville was thirty-five miles up a small 
stream, in the heart of a country teeming with Confederate troops and 
their guerilla sympathizers. The densely wooded shores could conceal 



624 r.LUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



sharp-shooters, who could easily pick off every man stationed on the 
steamer's deck. At any point of the entire distance a masked battery 
might be stationed, that could blow the invading craft out of water, and 
leave none of her crew uncapturcd to tell the tale. Nevertheless, the 
intrepid young commander determined to make the attempt. His vessel 
was a small steamer, mounting one heavy gun amidships and two smaller 
cannon on each side. Without any mishap the "Ellis" and her crew 
reached the town about noon. On the way up the river a dense column 
of black smoke appeared ahead, rising above the forest. All thought that 
the Confederates, hearing of their approach, had evacuated the town, firing 
it as they retreated. All possible steam was put on, and the little gunboat 
dashed up the river in the hope of saving some of the property of the 
inhabitants. But, on rounding an abrupt curve in the river, the mystery 
was solved by the appearance of a fine schooner, loaded with cotton and 
turpentine, and drifting helplessly, a mass of crackling flames, down the 
stream. She was clearly a blockade-runner, freighted with the chief 
products of the country, and had been waiting a chance to slip out past 
the blockader, and run for some friendly port. Cushing's bold move up 
the river had entrapped her neatly, and her owners had fired her and fled. 
The fire was a magnificent sight. The inflammable cargo, the tarry ropes 
and cordage, fed the flames, which leaped from hull to main-truck. The 
cotton burned sullenly, giving forth immense clouds of dense, black smoke. 
To save her was hopeless, and the " Ellis " kept out of the way of the 
flying fire-brands and continued on. The expected salt-works were not 
found, however ; and the only troi)hies to be obtained at the town were 
about twenty-five stand of arms and two schooners, evidently blockade- 
runners. The post-ofifice was also visited, and a large mail captured and 
removed, in the hope of finding therein some valuable information regarding 
the movements of the enemy. The town itself was one of the sleepy 
little Southern villages, with wide streets, grass-grown and lined with 
live-oaks. Children, and boys too young to ha\e been drafted into the 
Southern army, followed the sailors and marines curiously as they strolled 
up and down the silent streets. The war had robbed the little city of its 
men ; the blockade had robbed it of its little coasting-trade. Such an 
air of quiet and desolation himg about the place, that the inhabitants 
probably welcomed the advent of even the hostile sailors as being some- 



blue-Jackets of '6i. 625 

thing to break the monotony. After a stoppage of, an hour and a half, 
the "Ellis" started down the river. The quiet of the upward voyage had 
dispelled any thoughts" of danger, but about five o'clock suspicions were 
re-awakened by the sight of a small encampment on the bank. A few 
shells thrown over the tents quickly sent the campers scurrying into th' 
woods; and, as the camps seemed to have no artillery, the " Ellis " continue : 
without further hostilities. A short distance down the stream the Con- 
federates opened upon them with two guns mounted on a lofty bluff. 
Gushing, ever ready for a skirmish, stopped his engine, and cleared away 
the big pivot-gun for action. The batt'e-flag was hoisted at the fore, and 
the crew, with three cheers, set about the work. About an hour of artillery 
practice followed, when, the enemy being driven from his guns, the "Ellis" 
proceeded on her way. It was now growing dark, and the tide was rapidly 
falling. The two pilots on the steamer agreed that daylight and high tide 
were necessary to get the vessel safely out of the river. With great 
reluctance Gushing ordered the anchor to be let fall, and proceeded tc 
make preparations for the night. On both banks of the river could be seen 
the flash of lanterns, proving that the Confederates were aware of the 
steamer's presence, and were coJtitemplating an attack. To resist such" 
an attack if made in force during' the night, seemed almost hopeless ; yet 
the sailors went cheerfully about the work of preparation, getting out 
cutlasses and revolvers, and putting up the boarding-nettings over the 
sides. In watchful anxiety the hours wore away. No sound escaped 
the vigilant ear of the men on duty. But the enemy evidently had 
abandoned the attack, and when morning broke none were to be seen. 
With light hearts, and feeling that the worst was past, the little party 
continued their way, only to find that the worst was yet to come. .Soon 
after daylight, the pilot, mistaking the channel, ran the ship so solidly 
aground that there ivas clearly no hope of extricating her. All this time 
she had been towing one of the captured schooners ; and Gushing, with 
quick decisiveness, ordered that every thing should be removed from the 
" Ellis " to the schooner. This was quickly done, leaving nothing but 
the great pivot-gun aboard. 

But even when so greatly lightened, the ship would not float, and 
Gushing saw tiiat all was lost. As a final expedient he sent a boat's 
crew back after the cannon that the enemy had abandoned the day before, 



626 BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



intending to construct a land-battery with them, and so keep his ship. But 
the Confederates had already removed the guns, so this forlorn hope failed. 
Orders were then given for the crew to take the schooner, and drop down 
the river for a mile or two. The young captain e.^pressed his intention of 
remaining aboard his craft, and asked for six volunteers to help him fight 
the pivot-gun. They were quickly found ; and, while the remainder of the 
crew dropped down the river in the schooner, the devoted little band calmly 
awaited the beginning of the attack. They did not have long to wait. 
Soon a cannon boomed from the bank, and a heavy shell whizzed over their 
heads. Then another, from another direction, and a third, and a fourth, 
each from a distinct battery. They were ho]5eless odds, yet Cashing and 
his command fought on until the gunners, getting the range, dropped shot 
after shot into the doomed vessel. Then fire broke out in three or four 
[places. This was too much ; and the seven daring men took to a small boat, 
and rowed to the schooner. First, however, they loaded the long gun, and 
turned it on the enemy, in order, as Cushing said, "that she might fight for 
herself when we could do so no longer." Once in the schooner, they 
sailed rapidly down the river ; and just as they reached the sound a deep 
boom announced that the fire had reached the magazine, and the "Ellis" 
was blown into a million pieces. Daring as this adventure was, Cushing 
was much distressed at its termination ; and in his official report he asks 
for a general court of inquiry, to determine whether he had properly upheld 
the honor of the nation's flag. 

Another daring expedition was undertaken by Cushing when in com- 
mand of the " Monticello." This was in February, 1S64. He was cruising 
off Cape Fear River. At Smithville, a small town some distance up the 
river, was a Confederate army-post. Cushing's plan was to proceed up 
the river in row-boats, burn any vessels that might be at the dock, capture 
the commanding officers, and escape before the enemy could recover 
from the surprise. It was a rash and rather useless expedition, but 
Cushing successfully carried it out. With two boats and twenty men, he 
went quietly past the guns of the fort, concealed by the blackness of a 
cloudy night, ascended the river to the town, and landed directly in front 
of the hotel. A high bank concealed the party from view, and lying in 
ambush here they managed to capture some negroes, from whom the 
desired information was obtained. Then with two officers and a seaman, 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



627 



Gushing walked from the deck to Gen. Herbert's headquarters in so open 
1 manner as to disarm suspicion. Entering the house they met an 
engineer officer, who tried to raise an alarm, but was quickly captured and 
gagged. The adjutant-general, never dreaming that any enemy could be so 
near him, supposed it was a mutiny, and fled hastily, half dressed, to the ' 
woods, not even calling out the garrison. Gushing then with his speechless 
prisoner walked calmly back before the long barracks that sheltered a 
thousand hostile soldiers, and within a few yards of the sentry on the 
wharf. Only when the affrighted adjutant-general returned from his hasty 
trip to the woods did the Gonfederates know that an enemy had been in 
their midst. Then there was great excitement, arresting of sentries, calling 
out of guards, and signalling to the fort that hostile boats were in the 
harbor. But all too late. Gushing's coolness, courage, dash, and invincible 
luck had carried him scot free through another dare-devil adventure. 

From the " Monticello " Gushing made yet another dangerous excursion 
into the enemy's country. On this occasion he had a more adequate 
purpose for his perilous errand. It was believed that the Gonfederate ram 
" Raleigh " was in the Gape Fear River above the town of Smithville, 
the scene of the last adventure. Gushing obtained permission from his 
superior officer to ascend the river, and try to blow up the ram with a 
torpedo. On the night of the 23d of June he started, taking with him 
Jones and Howarth, the officers who had been with him in the previous trip, 
and fifteen men. The night was pitchy dark, and all went well as they 
passed the fort and the little town of Smithville. Fifteen miles from the 
river's mouth, they saw the moon suddenly break through the clouds ; and 
the surface of the river suddenly became bright, revealing to the sentries on 
shore the Yankee boat fifteen miles within Gonfederate territory. Quickly 
the boats turned about, and headed down the river ; but this was a mere 
feint, as Gushing doubled as soon as he reached the shadow of the opposite 
bank, and continued his course into the hostile territory. Toward morning, 
when within about seven miles of Wilmington, a very stronghold of the 
Gonfederates, he landed, and iiid his boat in a neighboring swamp. The 
men lay in hiding all day; and, just as they were about to start out again, 
they captured two boats with a Wilmington fishing-party. During the 
second night Gushing crept cautiously up to within three miles of Wilming- 
ton, closely examining the defences of the town and the obstructions in 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 



the river. At daybreak he rowed up one of the creeks liiitil he found the 
road Ijetwoen Fort Fisher and Wilmington. Here lie crouched by a hedge 
until a mounted mail-carrier came by from the fort. The soldier was 
caiitured and dismounted, vastly astonished at the sight of a blue-jacket in 
tiiat region. Presently, along came the carrier from the town, on the way 
to the fort. He too was astonished at the sight, but flung back a scornful 
answer to the demand that he surrender, and galloped hastily away. In an 
instant Gushing was on the back of the captured horse, and after him ; 
but the fugitive was too well mounted, and escaped. Matters were now 
becoming" very serious. The runaway would doubtless give the alarm 
everywhere. Immediate flight was imperative. The men had been away 
from the boat for some hours, and were famished. Food must be had. But 
how to get it ? Cushing's solution of the problem was characteristic. 
Having captured some other prisoners, he learned that a store was to be 
found about two miles off. A prisoner about Howarth's size was ordered 
to strip, and Howarth put on his clothing. The change from the trim blu; 
uniform of a Yankee naval officer to the slouchy jeans jumper and overaiis 
;!f a North Carolina "cracker" was somewhat amusing, but the disguise 
was complete. Mounting the captured horse, Howarth rode off in tlie 
character of a "poor-white" farmer come in to do his marketing. He 
chatted freely with the people he met along the road, and securing his 
provision, returned to the boat without arousing the least suspicion. 
Snugly ensconced in the thick bushes, the party then proceeded to sup, and 
after the meal amused themselves in cutting telegraph-wires, and at dark 
returned to the boat. This was the third night in the river, and Gushing 
prepared to return. Embarking with his prisoners, he pulled up to the 
"Raleigh," and found that she would not need his attentions, as she was 
already a total wreck. Then he began the descent of the river. When a 
little way down the prisoners were set adrift, with neither sails nor oars in. 
order that they might not report the occurrence too soon. The blue- 
jackets continued their pull down the river. Just as they reached the 
mouth the moon shone out, and a quick hail came from a guard-boat. 
Gushing made no answer, but in a low voice urged his men on, intending 
to attack the enemy. But in an instant more three boats came out of tl.e 
shadow, and at the same instant five appeared on the other side. One 
opening seemed left for the beleaguered boat to dash through. At it the^ 



r.Lrr.-TAfKETS of '6i. 629 



went, but a schooner filled with troops suddenly appeared blockading this 
last exit. It looked as though all was up, and those in the boat saw before 
them the cheerful prospect of execution as spies. But Cushing's pluck and 
self-possession, which had never yet failed, still stood by him. He 
resorted to strategy, and, like the hunted fox, threw his pursuers off the 
track by doubling. He made a dash so rapid and determined towards the 
western bar, that all the boats of the enemy rushed to block that point. 
For an instant his own was in the shadow of a cloud. In that instant 
he had turned, and headed at full speed for New Inlet. His men were as 
cool as he. With a few vigorous pulls the boat shot out into the breakers 
where the enemy dared not follow it, and soon after the cutter was hoisted 
to the davits of the " Monticello," uninjured, after a stay of three nights 
in the heart of the enemy's country. 

It was near the end of the great war that Gushing performed the 
greatest feat of daring of his adventurous career ; and, as on the previous 
occasions, the scene of the exploit was in the waters tributary to the North 
Carolina sounds. Early in the spring of 1863 it became evident to the 
officers of the Union squadron in the sounds, that the Confederates were 
making arrangements to drive the Yankee ships from those waters, and 
to re-open the coasting-trade to the people of North Carolina. The chief 
source of alarm to the fleet was a heavy iron-clad which was reported to 
be building on the Roanoke River above Plymouth. Full descriptions 
of this vessel were in the hands of the Union officers ; and they saw clearly 
that, should she be completed, no vessel of the sound squadron, nor perhaps 
the entire navy, would he able to do battle against her succcssfullv. The 
river was too shallow for the war-vessels to go up to the point where 
the ram was being built, and the channel at Hatteras Inlet was not deep 
enough for iron-clads to be brought in to compete with the enemy when 
finished. The naval authorities repeatedly urged the army to send an 
expedition to burn the boat ; but Major-Gen. Foster, in command of the 
department of North Carolina, declared it was of no importance, as the 
Confederates would never put it to any use. Time showed a very different 
state of affairs. In April, 1864, the ram was completed, and named the 
"Albemarle." Her first work was to co-operate with ten thousand Con- 
federate troops in the re-capture of Plymouth, which was accomplished 
with very little difficulty. Lie«t. Flusser was at Plymouth with four small 



630 BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 



gunboats, and remained bravely at his post as he saw the powerful ram 
bearing down upon him. It was half-past three in the morning, and the 
thill, gray dawn was just breaking over the earth. Above the river hung 
a mist, through which the great body of the ram could be seen coming 
doggedly down to the conflict. The " Miami " and " Southfield " were 
lashed together ; and, at the order of Commander Flusser, they started to 
meet the iron-clad, firing quickly and with good aim. The "Albemarle" 
came on silently, disdaining to fire a gun. With a crash she struck the 
" Miami " a glancing blow on the port-bow, gouging off two great planks. 
Sliding past the wounded craft, she plunged into the " Southfield, ' crushing 
completely through her side, so that she began to settle at once. The 
lashings between the gunboats parted, and the " Southfield " sank rapidly, 
carrying part of her crew with her. As the "Albemarle" crashed into 
the two vessels, she fired her bow-gun several times, killing and wounding 
many of the Union sailors, and killing Lieut. Flusser. When she turned 
^nd made a second dash for the " Miami," the latter fled down the stream, 
knowing that to dare the power of the enemy was mere madness. The 
' Albemarle " steamed back to Plymouth, and by her aid the town was 
easily re-captured by the Confederates. 

The squadron in the sounds was now in a state of the greatest anxiety. 
At any moment the impregnable monster might descend the river and 
destroy the frail wooden gunboats at her leisure. Preparations were 
made for a desperate battle when the time should come. Captains were 
instructed to bring their ships to close quarters with the enemy and to 
endeavor to throw powder or shells down her smoke-stack. Every possible 
means by which a wooden steamer might cope with an iron-clad was 
provided. 

On the 5th of May the ram put in an appearance, steaming down 
!ic river. Deliberately she approached within easy range, then let fly 
a shot at the " Mattabesett " which knocked her launch to pieces and 
wounded several men. The "Mattabesett" ran up to within one hundred 
and fifty yards of the " Albemarle," and gave her a broadside of solid shot 
from nine-inch Dahlgrens and one hundred-pounder rifles. When these 
shot struck a sloping place on the ram's armor, they glanced off. Those 
that struck full on the plating simply crumbled to pieces, leaving no dent 
to tell of the blow. One beautifully aimed* shot struck the muzzle of o"e 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 63 1 

of the cannon on the ram and broke it. The gun was used throughout 
the fight, however, as the "Albemarle" carried but two and could not 
spare one of them. The " Sassacus " followed in line of battle. She 
delivered her broadside in passing. The ram rushed madly at her, but 
was evaded by good steering. Then the " Sassacus " in turn rushed ai 
the ram at full speed, thinking to run her down. She struck amidships 
at right angles, and with the crash of the collision came a hundred-pound 
shot from the ram, that passed through the wooden ship from end to 
end. Still the engines of the " Sassacus " were kept going, in the hope 
cf pushing the "Albemarle" beneath the water. The iron-clad careened 
slowly, the water washed over her after-deck ; the crew of the " Sassacus," 
far out on the bow, tried vainly to drop shells and packages of powder 
down the ram's smoking chimneys. It was a moment of intense excite- 
ment. But the ram was too much for her assailant. Rcco\'ering from 
the shock of the collision, she slowly swung around until her bow-gun 
could be brought to bear on her tormentor, when she let fly a ponderous 
holt. It crashed through the side of the steamer and plunged into her 
boiler. In an instant hot, scalding steam filled the engine-room and 
spread over the whole ship. Cries of agony arose on every side. Twenty- 
one of the crew were terribly scalded. Nothing remained but retreat ; and 
the " Sassacus " steamed away from her enemy, after making one of the 
bravest fights in naval history. In the mean time the other gunboats 
were pounding away at the ram. The " Miami " was trying in vain to 
get an opportunity to discharge a large torpedo. Two other vessels were 
spreading nets about the great ship, trying to foul the propeller. The 
action continued until dark, when the ram withdrew, uninjured and without 
losing a man. She had fought alone for three hours against si.x ships, 
and had seriously damaged every one of her adversaries. It must also 
be remembered that she carried but two guns. 

The " Albemarle " lay for a long time idle at her moorings in Roanoke 
River, feeling sure that at her own pleasure she could go into the sounds, 
and complete the destruction of the fleet. Lieut. Gushing, then twenty-one 
years old, begged permission to attempt to destroy her. The authority was 
gladly granted by the navy department, and Gushing began making his 
plans for the adventure. His first plan was to take a squad of men, with 
two steam-launches, up the Ror.noke, and blow the ram up by means of a 



632 BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 



torpedo. The launches were sent from New York, but one was swamped 
wh.ile crossing Delaware Bay. 

Gushing, however, was not the man to be balked by an accident : so, 
cutting down his force one-half, he prepared for the start. Thirteen officers 
and men made up the little party which seemed bound to certain death. 
The spirit which animated the blue-jackets during the war may be imagined 
from the fact that many sailors tried to purchase the privilege of going on 
this perilous expedition, by offering their month's pay to those who had 
been selected. To understand what a forlorn hope the little boat-load of 
men were cherishing, we must understand what were the defences of the 
" Albemarle." She lay at a broad wharf, on which was encamped a large 
guard of soldiers as well as her crew. Above and below her, great fires 
were kept burning on the shores, to prevent any boat approaching unseen. 
She was surrounded by a boom, or "water-fence," of floating logs, about 
thirty feet from her hull, to keep off any torpedo-boats. From the mouth 
.-if the Roanoke to her moorings was about eight miles ; the shores being 
lined on either side by pickets, and a large picket-station being established 
in mid-stream about one mile below Plymouth. 

To attempt to penetrate this network of defences seemed to be fool- 
hardy. Yet Cushing's record for dash and courage, and his enthusiasm, 
inspired his comrades with confidence ; and they set out feeling certain of 
success. On the night of the 27th of October, the daring band, in their 
pygmy steamer, steamed rapidly up the river. No word was spoken aboard. 
The machinery was oiled until it ran noiselessly ; and not a light shone from 
the little craft, save when the furnace-door was hastily opened to fire up. 
The Confederate sentries on the bank saw nothing of the party ; and, even 
when they passed the picket schooners near the wreck of the " Southfield," 
they were unchallenged, although they could see the schooners, and hear 
the voices of the men, not more than twenty yards away. Not until they 
came into the fitful glare of the firelight were they seen, and then quick 
hails came from the sentries on the wharf and the "Albemarle's" decks. 
But the light on the shore aided the adventurers by showing them the 
position of the ram. They dashed up alongside, amid a shower of bullets 
that seemed to fill the air. On the decks of the ram all was confusion, 
the alarm rattles were sprung, the bell rung violently. The launch running 
alongside came into contact with the row of logs, and sheered off to make 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 633 

a dash over it. Gushing, who on these dangerous expeditions was like a 
schoolboy on a holiday, answered with ridicule all hails. " Go ashore for 
your lives," " Surrender yourselves, or I shall sink yon," he cried, as the 
gunners on the ram trained a heavy gun on the little launch. Now she 
was headed straight for the ram, and had a run of thirty yards before 
striking the boom. She reached, and dashed over. Gashing, standing in 
the stern, held in one hand the tiller ropes, in the other the lanyard of the 
torpedo. He looked up, saw the muzzle of a heavy gun trained directly 
on his boat : one convulsive pull of the rope, and with a roar the torpedo 
exploded under the hull of the "Albemarle," just as a hundred-pound shot 
crashed through the bottom of his boat. In a second the launch had dis- 
appeared ; her crew were struggling in the waves, or lying dead beneath 
them, and the "Albemarle" with a mortal wound was sinking to the bottom. 
Gushing swam to the middle of the river, and headed down stream. 
Most of his companions were killed, captured, or drowned. In the middle 
of the stream he met Woodman, who had followed him on previous expedi- 
tions. Woodman was almost exhausted. Gushing supported him as lonp 
as he was able, but was forced to lea\-e him, and the sailor sank to 'the 
bottom. The young lieutenant floated down the river until at last he 
reached the shore, exhausted and faint from a wound in his wrist. He lay 
half covered with water in a swamp until daylight. While there he heard 
two Confederate officers who passed say that the "Albemarle" was a 
total wreck. That news gave him new energy, and he set about getting 
safely away. Through the thick undergrowth of the swamp he crawled for 
some hours, until he found a negro who gave him shelter and food. Then 
he plunged again into the swamp, and walked on until he captured a skiff 
from a Rebel picket ; and with this he safely reached the fleet, — the only 
one of the thirteen who set out two days before. So ended the most 
wonderful adventure of the war 





CHAPTER VII. 



THE BLOCKADE-RUNNERS. — NASSAU .\ND WILMINGTON. — WORK OF THE CRUISERS. 



MILE it is undeniably true that the naval battles of the civil 
war were in many cases unimportant as compared with the 
gigantic operations of the mighty armies in Virginia and Ten- 
nessee, yet there was one service performed by the navy, alone 
and unaided, which probabh', more than any thing else, led to the final 
subjugation of the South. This was the blockade. 

To fully appreciate what a terrible weapon the blockade is when ener- 
getically pursued, one need only look at the condition of the South during 
the latter years of the war. Medicines were almost unattainable for love 
or money. Salt was more carefully hoarded than silver. Woollen goods 
for clothing were not to be had. Nothing that could not be produced 
by the people of the revolted States could be obtained at their markets. 
Their whole territory was in a state of siege, surrounded by a barrier 
mly a little less unrelenting than the iron circle the Germans drew around 
besieged Paris. 

Almost the first war measure of Abraham Lincoln was to declare the 

ports of the Confederacy in a state of blockade. At first this seemed a 

rash proclamation, and one which could not bo sustained by the force 

at the command of the Federals. It is a rule of warfare, that " blockades, 

634 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 61. 635 



to be binding, must be effective ; " tliat is, it is not lawful for a nation 
witK a small fleet to declare an enemy's coast in a state of blockade, and 
then capture such trading- vessels as may happen to run in the way of 
its cruisers. The nation must have a large enough fleet to station vessels 
before each of the principal harbors of the enemy, and to maintain a 
constant and vigilant patrol up and down his coast. If this cannot be 
done, the blockade is called a " paper blockade," and merchantmen are 
justified in attempting to evade it. An instance of a "paper blockade" 
occurred during the early months of the civil war, which will illustrate 
this point. Wilmington, N.C., was throughout the war one of the favorite 
ports for blockade-runners. From its situation, the many entrances to 
its harbor, and other natural advantages, it was the most difficult of all 
the Southern ports to keep guarded. With the rest of the Confederate 
ports, Wilmington was declared blockaded ; but it was long after, before 
a suitable blockading-fleet was stationed there. In July, 1861, the British 
brig " Herald " left Wilmington without molestation. When two days 
out, she ran across a United States man-of-war, that promptly captured her. 
The courts, however, decided that a port so little guarded as Wilmington 
was at that time could not be legally called blockaded, and the brig was 
therefore released. 

But it did not take many months for the energetic men of the Navy 
Department to get together such a fleet of boats of all kinds as to enable 
them to effectually seal all the ports of the Confederacy. A blockading 
vessel need not be of great strength or powerful armament. All that is 
necessary is that she should be swift, and carry a gun heavy enough to 
overawe any merchantman that might attempt to run the blockade. And 
as such vessels were easy to improvise out of tug-boats, ferry-boats, yachts, 
and other small craft, it came about that by the last of 1861, the people 
of the seaport towns of the South, looking seaward from their deserted 
wharves, could see two or three Federal cruisers lying anchored off the 
outer bar, just out of reach of the guns of shore-batteries. It was a service 
of no little danger for the blue-jackets. The enemy were ever on the alert 
to break the blockade by destroying the ships with torpedoes. Iron-clad 
iuius were built on the hanks of the rivers, and sent down to sink and de- 
stroy the vessels whose watchfulness meant starvation to the Confederacy. 
The " Albemarle " and the " Mcrrimac " were notable instances of this 



636 BLUE-JACKKTS OF '61. 



course of attack. But the greatest clanger which the sailors had to 
encounter, was the peril of being wrecked by the furious storms which 
continually ravage the Atlantic coast. The sailor loves the open sea in 
.T blow , but until the civil war, no captain had ever dared to lie tugging 
at his cables within a mile or two of a lee shore, with a stiff north-easter 
lashing the sea into fury. In the blockading service of our great naval 
war, the war of 1812, the method in vogue was to keep a few vessels 
cruising up and down the coast ; and, when it came on to blow, these ships 
would put out into the open sea and scud for some other point. But in 
'61 we had hundreds of vessels stationed along the enemy's coast; and 
where a ship was stationed, there she stayed, to meet the fury of the wind 
and waves by putting out more anchors, and riiling out at her cables 
storms that would have blown the blockader of 1S12 hundreds of miles 
from her post. 

In the earlier years of the war the blockade-runners were nearly all 
sailing-vessels, schooners, and brigs, that were easily captured. But when 
'\c supplies of the South became exhausted, and the merchants of Eng- 
and began building ships especially for this purpose, the duty of the 
blockading squadron became e.\citing and often very profitable. The 
business assumed such proportions that half the ship-yards in England 
were engaged in turning out fast steamers to engage in it. At first it 
was the custom to send goods in regular ocean-steamers from England 
to the blockaded port ; but this was soon abandoneJ, as the risk of capture 
on the long run across the Atlantic was too great. Not until the plan 
was adopted of shipping the goods to some neutral port along our coast, 
and there transferring the cargo to some small, swift vessel, and making 
the run into the Confederate port in a few hours, did the business of 
blockade-running become very extensive. Goods shipped for a neutral 
point were in no danger of being captured by our cruisers, and therefore 
llic danger of the long trans-Atlantic passage was done away with. 

Of these neutral points which served as way-stations for the blockade- 
runners, there were four on or near our coast, — the Bermuda Islands, 
which lie about seven hundred miles cast of Charleston ; Nassau, which is 
off the coast of Florida, and a little more than five hundred miles south- 
east of Charleston ; Havana ; and the little Mexican town of Matamoras 
on the Rio Grande, opposite Brownsville, Texas. The Bermudas were to 



BLUK-yACKKiS OF '6i. 



637 



some extent used, but their distance from the coast made them incon- 
venient as compared with Nassau or Matamoras. Their chief trade was 
with Wilmington, which became a favorite port during the latter years 
of the war. Havana was popular for a time, and at first sight would 
appear to be admirably placed for a blockade-runners' rendezvous. But, 
though the coast of Florida was but one hundred miles distant, it was 




"^=ii' 







NASS.^U. THK UAUiVT OF THE BLOCKADE-RUNNERS. 




surrounded by dangerous reefs, its harbors were bad and far aj^art, and 
there were no railroads in the southern part of the State to transport 
tiie contraband goods after they were landed. Besides, Key West, the 
naval station of the Union forces in the South, was uniileasantly near, and 
the gulf blockade was maintained with more rigor than that on the Atlantic 
coast. Matamoras was peculiarly well situated for a blockade-running point. 



638 BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 



It is on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande River, abont forty miles above 
its mouth. Goods once landed could be shipped in barges and lighters 
across the river in absolute safety, since heavy batteries prevented the 
cruisers of the gulf-squadron from entering the river. As a result of 
this trade, Matamoras became a thriving place. Hundreds of vessels lay 
in its harbor, where now it is unusual to see fi\'e at a time. For four years 
its streets were crowded with heavy freight vans, while stores and hotels 
reaped a rich harvest from the sailors of the vessels engaged in the contra- 
band trafific. Now it is as quiet and sleepy a little town as can be found in 
all the drowsy land of Mexico. 

But the true paradise of the blockade-runners was Nassau, the chief 
port of the Bahama Islands, and a colony of Great Britain. Here all the 
conditions necessary to successfully evade the blockade were to be found. 
The flag that waved over the island was that of a nation powerful enough 
to protect its citizens, and to enforce the laws relative to neutrality 
Furthermore, Great Britain was undoubtedly in sympathy with the Con- 
federates ; and so far from prohibiting the efforts of her citizens to keep un 
trade with the blockaded ports, she encouraged and aided them in e\ery 
way in her power. And aside from her mere sympathy with the struggles 
of the young Confederacy, England had a most powerful incentive to break 
down the blockade. In Manchester the huge cotton-mills, employing thou- 
sands of hands, were shut down for lack of cotton, and the mill-hands 
were starving for lack of work ; while shut up in the blockaded ports of 
the South were tons upon tons of the fleecy staple, that, once in England, 
would be worth its weight in gold. It was small wonder that the merchants 
of England set to work deliberately to fit out blockade-runners, that they 
might again get their mills running, and their people fed. 

The years of the war were lively times for the little town of Nassau. 
Hardly had the proclamation of President Lincoln announcing the blockade 
of all Confederate ports been issued, when at a bound Nassau became 
prominent as the point of all most suitable for a blockade-runners' ren- 
dezvous. Its harbor and the surrounding waters were deep enough for 
merchant-vessels, but too shallow to allow much cruising about by war- 
shi])s of heavy armament. It was within a few hours' running of three Con- 
federate ports, and it was protected by the flag of Great Britain. Early in 
the war the Confederates established a consulate in the little town, and 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



639 



the Stars and Stripes and the Stars and Bars waved within a few rods of 
each other. Then great shipping-houses of Liverpool sent over agents, 
and established branch houses. Great warehouses and wharves were built. 
Soon great ocean ships and steamers began unloading their cargoes :\t 





these wharves. Then swift, rakish schooners began to drop into tiie harbor, 
and after discharging heavy loads of cotton would take on cargoes of 
English goods, and slip out at nightfall to begin the stealthy dash past the 
watching gunboats. As the war went on, and the profits of the trade 



640 BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 

increased with its dangers, a new style of craft began to appear in the little 
harbor. These were the Clyde built blockade-runners, on which the work- 
men of the Clyde ship-yartls had been laboring day and night to get them 
ready before the war should end. They were long, low, piratical looking 
craft, with two smoke-stacks raking aft, and with one or two masts for 
showing signals, for they never hoisted a sail. Two huge paddle-boxes 
towered above the deck amidships, the wheels being of enormous size. No 
structure of any kind encumbered the deck. Even the steersman stood 
unsheltered at a wheel in the bow. They were painted dark gray, and at 
night could slip unseen along the water within a stone's-throw of the most 
watchful lookout on a man-of-war. They burned great quantities of a kind 
of coal that gave out no smoke, and when steaming at night not a light 
was allowed on board. Many of these strange craft can be seen now along 
the levees at New Orleans, or at the wharves in Mobile, where they are 
used as excursion-steamers or for tug-boats. They were always the merest 
shells, fitted only for carrying freight, as not many passengers were to be 
foimd who desired to be taken into the Confederate territory. Occasionally, 
however, some soldier of fortune from abroad would drift from Nassau, and 
thence to the mainland, to join the armies of the Confederacy. The Con- 
federate agents on the island were always on the lookout for such adven- 
turers, and were ever ready to aid them. Sometimes, too, returning 
agents of the Confederacy from Europe would make the run through the 
blockading-fleet ; so that the blockade-runners were seldom without two 
or three passengers, poor though their accommodations might be. For the 
voyage from Nassau to Wilmington, three hundred dollars passage money 
was charged, or more than fifty cents a mile. To guard against treachery, 
passage could only be obtained through the Confederate consul, who care- 
fully investigated the proofs of each applicant's identity before issuing to 
him a ticket. 

When the blockade-runner had taken her cargo and passengers aboard, 
and was prepared for her voyage, every one in the little town came down to 
the docks to see her start. It was a populace strongly Southern in feeling 
that filled the streets of Nassau, and nothing but good wishes were 
to be heard on every side. Perhaps from a house on the hill-side, over 
which floated the Stars and Stripes, the United States consul might be 
watching through a spyglass the movements of the steamer, and wishing 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 64: 

in his heart that she might fall in with some Yankee cvLiiser ; but 
nevertheless, under his very eyes, the audacious racer slips out, and starts 
on her stealthy voyage. On leaving the harbor, a quick run of fifteen or 
twenty miles would be taken along the coast, to try the machinery. Great 
care would be taken to keep within British waters, lest some watchful gnrj- 
boat should seize the prize thus early in her career. When every thing 
j;roved in good working trim, the little vessel's prow would be turjicd 
northward, and the perilous voyage begun. For the first day, little danger 
was to be expected, and the voyage was generally so timed that the outer 
line of blockaders would be reached just after nightfall. A soldier going 
;o enlist in one of the Confederate cavalry regiments thus tells the story 
uf his evasion of the blockade. 

"After a favorable voyage we reached the desired point off Wilmington 
at the proper time. A brief stoppage was made, when soon the final 
preparations were completed for running the gauntlet of the Federal 
blockaders, who would become visible shortly, as we approached nearer shore 
All the lights in the steamer were extinguished, and all passengers ordercc 
below, only the officers and crew being permitted to remain on deck. 
The furnaces were replenished with carefully selected coal, which would 
give the greatest amount of heat and the least smoke. The last order-j 
were given, and every man was at his appointed place. Presently the 
boilers hissed, and the paddle-wheels began to revolve faster and faster, 
as the fleet little steamer rose higher and higher in the water from the 
immense force of the rapid strokes ; she actually felt like a horse gathering 
himself up under you for a great leap. After a little while, the few faint 
sounds from the deck which we could hitherto faintly catch in the cabin 
ceased altogether, and there was the stillness of death except for the 
sounds necessarily made by the movements of the machinery. Then we 
realized that we were running for our lives past the line of cruisers, and 
that at any moment a big shell might come crashing through our cabin, 
disagreeably lighting up the darkness in which we were sitting. Our 
suspense was prolonged for some minutes longer, when the speed was 
slackened, and finally we stopped altogether. Even then we did not know 
whether we were safely through the lines, or whether we had been brought 
to under the guns of a hostile ship, for we could distinguish nothing what- 
t"."i-r through the portholes. However, we Wfre soon released from the 



642 blup:-jav:kf;ts of '61. 



cabin, and walked on deck, to find ourselves safely through the blockade. 
In the offing could be descried several of the now harmless blockaders, 
and near at hand lay the coast of North Carolina. Soon the gray dawn 
was succeeded by a brilliant, lovely sunrise, which liglited up cheerfully the 
low-lying shores and earthworks bristling with artillery, while from a fort 
near by floated the Southern Cross, the symbol of the glorious cause for 
which we had come to fight." 

When the blockade-runner, after safely running the gauntlet of the 
war-ships, steamed leisurely up to the wharves of the blockaded town, 
every one rushed to the docks to greet her. Her captain and crew became 
at once people of great importance. They were beset on e\'ery side fir 
news of the great world outside. The papers that they brought in were 
bought eagerly by the people, hungering for tidings of something else than 
the interminable war. The sailors of the steamer, on being paid off, 
rambled about the streets of the city, spending their money royally, and 
followed by a train of admiring hangers-on. The earnings of the sailors 
ill case of a successful voyage were immense. A thousand dollars for the 
i )ur or five days' trip was nothing unusual for common seamen, while the 
captain often received eight or nine thousand. But the risk of capture, 
with the confiscation of all property, and some months' imprisonment in 
a Federal fortress, rather marred the attractiveness of the nefarious trade. 
The profits of a successful voyage to the owner of the ship and cargo were 
enormous. One of the steamers, specially built for the trade, at large cost, 
has been known to pay for herself fully in one voyage. Indeed, the profits 
must have been huge to induce merchants to take the risk of absolutely 
losing a ship and cargo worth half a million of dollars. It is certain, too, 
that throughout the war the number of vessels captured, while trying 
to run the blockade, was far in excess of those that succeeded. Up to the 
end of 1863 the Federal Secretary of the Navy reported 1,045 vessels 
captured, classified as follows: schooners, 547; steamers, 179; sloops, 
117; brigs, 30; barks, 26; ships, 15; yachts and boats, 117. Of course, 
most of these were small, coastwise vessels. Even among the steamers 
captured, there were but few of the fleet-going, English-built craft. 

There was no small amount of smuggling carried on between the ports 
of the North and the blockaded ports. The patriotism of the Northern 
merchant was not always so great as to prevent his embarking in the 



BLUK-JACKICLS i)\' 'Or. 643 

traffic which he saw enriching his English competitor. Many of the 
schooners captured started from Northern ports and worked their way 
along the coast until that chain of inlets, sounds, and bayous was reached, 
which borders the coast south of Chesapeake Bay. Once inside the bar, 
the smuggler could run at his leisure for any of the little towns that stood 
on the banks of the rivers of Virginia and North Carolina. The chase of 
one of these little vessels was a dreary duty to the officers of the block- 
ading-ships. The fugitives were fast clippers of the models that made 
Maine ship-builders famous, until the inauguration of steam-navigation 
made a gracefully modelled hull immaterial as compared with powerful 
machinery. Even when the great, lumbering war-ship had overhauled 
the flying schooner so as to bring a gun to bear on her, the little boat 
might suddenly dash into some inlet or up a river, where the man-of-war, 
with her heavy draught, could not hope to follow. And if captured, the 
[>rize was worth but little, and the prize-money, that cheers the sailors' 
hearts, was but small. But the chase and capture of one of the swift Clyde- 
built steamers was a different matter. Perhaps a lookout in the maintop 
of a cruiser, steaming idly about the Atlantic, between Nassau and 
Wilmington, would spy, far off on the horizon, a black speck, moving 
swiftly along the ocean. No curling smoke would tell of the blockade- 
runner's presence, and nothing could be seen until the hull of the steamer 
itself was perceptible. With the quick hail of the lookout, the man-of-war 
would head for the prize, and start in hot pursuit. Certain it is that the 
smuggler started to fly before the watchful lookout on the cruiser caught 
sight of her. The towering masts and capacious funnels of the man-of-war, 
with the cloud of black smoke from her furnaces, made her a conspicuous 
object at distances from which the smuggler would be invisible. With the 
blockade-runners the rule was to avoid any sail, no matter how innocent 
it might seem ; and the appearance of a cloud of smoke on the horizon 
was the signal for an immediate change of course, and a flight for safetv. 
When the chase began in this way, the cruiser had but little chance of 
making a capture, for the superior speed of the merchant-vessel woukl 
quickly carry her out of sight. Sometimes, however, a favorable wind 
would enable the pursuer to use her sails, and then the chase would become 
exciting. With a cloud of canvas set, the man-of-war would gradually 
overhaul the flying vessel ; and when within range, the great bow-gun would 



644 BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i 



be cleared, and with a roar a shell would be sent fi\in;:j after the prize. 
All hands would watch its course anxiously. Generally it fell short. Then 
another and another messenger would be sent to the enemy, which seldom 
struck the mark, for gunnery on a rough sea is a difficult art. But the 
lliickade-runner can't stand being used for target-practice long. The cool 
liead of her captain begins to deliberate upon means of getting out of 
range. Mere running before the wind won't do it : so he makes a long 
detour, and doubles on his course, heading directly into the teeth of the 
breeze. Now the cruiser is at a disadvantage. Her sail-pcwer gone, she 
stands no chance of capturing her game. Her shells begin to fall far short 
of the smuggler, and soon she ceases firing altogether ; and the blockade- 
runner, driven hundreds of miles out of her course, but safe for the time, 
goes on her way rejoicing. 

One of the most brilliant captures of the war was that of the blockade- 
runner "Young Republic," by the United States gunboat "Grand Gulf." 
The " Young Republic " succeeded in evading the watchfulness of the 
blockading-squadron about the mouth of the Cape Fear River, and under 
cover of the night ran in safely to the anchorage under the guns of the 
Confederate forts. The baffled blockaders saw her moving slowly up the 
river, while the cannon of the forts on either side thundered out salutes 
to the daring vessel that brought precious supplies to the Confederacy. 
But the blockading-squadron, though defeated for the time, determined to 
wait and catch her when she came out. Accordingly the " Grand Gulf," 
«ne of the fastest of the United States vessels, was stationed at the mouth 
of the river, with orders to watch for the "Young Republic." A week 
passed, and there was no sign of her. At last, one bright day, the lookout 
in the tops saw the mast and funnel of a steamer moving along above the 
forest which lined the river's bank. Soon the hull of the vessel came into 
view ; and with a rattle of hawse-chains, her anchors were let fall, and 
s'le swung to beneath the protecting guns of the fort. It was clear that she 
was going to wait there until a dark or foggy night gave her a good chance 
to slip past the gunboat that watched the river's mouth as a cat watches 
the mouth of a mouse-hole. With their marine glasses the officers on the 
gunboat could see the decks of the "Young Republic" piled high with 
brown bales of cotton, worth immense sums of money. They thought o( 
the huge value of the prize, and the grand distribution of prize-money, and 



ULUE-JACKEI'S OF '61. 645 



determined to use e\-erv effort to make a capture. Strategy was determined 
upon, and it was decided to give the blockade-runner the chance to get out 
of the river that she was awaiting. Accordingly the gunboat steamed away 
up the coast a few miles, leaving the mouth of the river clear. When 
hidden by a projecting headland, she stopped and waited for the blockade- 
runner to come out. The stokers were kept hard at work making the great 
fires roar, until the steam-gauge showed the highest pressure the boilers 
could bear. The sailors got out additional sails, clewed up cordage and 
rigging, and put the ship in order for a fast run. When enough time had 
elapsed, she steamed out to see if the "Young Republic" had taken the 
bait. Officers and crew crowded forward to catch the first sight around 
the headland. The great man-of-war sped through the water. The head- 
land was rounded, and a cheer went up from the crowd of jackies ; for there, 
in the offing, was the blockade-runner, gliding through the water like a 
dolphin, and steaming for dear life to Nassau. Then the chase began 
in earnest. The "Young Republic" was one of those long, sharp steamers 
built on the Clyde expressly for running the blockade. Her crew knew 
that a long holiday in port, with plenty of money, would follow a successful 
cruise ; and they worked untiringly to keep up the fires, and set every sail 
so that it would draw. On the cruiser the jackies saw visions of a prize 
worth a million and a half of dollars ; and the thought of so much prize- 
money to spend, or to send home, spurred them on. For several hours 
the chase seemed likely to be a long, stern one ; but then the freshening 
wind filled the sails of the gunboat, and she began to overhaul the fugitive. 
When within a mile or two, she began firing great shells with her pivot-gun. 
Then the flying blockade-runner began to show signs of fear ; and with 
a good glass the crew could be seen throwing over bale after bale of the 
precious cotton, to lighten the vessel. In the last thirty miles of the chase 
the sea was fairly covered with cotton-bales. More than three hundied 
were passed floating in the water; and the jackies gnashed their teeth, and 
growled gruffly, at the sight of so much wealth slipping through their 
fingers. On the high paddle-wheel bo.\ of the blockade-runner, the captain 
could be seen coolly directing his crew, and now and again turning to take 
a look through his glass at the pursuer. As the chase continued, the 
certainty of capture became more and more evident. Then the fugitives 
began throwing overboard or destroying every thing of value : furniture, 



646 BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 



silver-ware, chronometers, the fittings of the cabin, every thing that could 
benefit their captors, the chagrined blockade-runners destroyed. The 
officers of the gunboat saw that if they wished to gain any thing by their 
capture, they must make haste. At the risk of an explosion, more steam 
was crowded on; and the gunboat was soon alongside the "Young Rcpub 
lie," and in a position to give her an enormous broadside. The blockade- 
runner saw that he was caught and must submit. For lack of a white flag, 
a pillow-case was run up to the rriasthead, and the beating of the great 
wheels stopped. The davits amidships of the "Grand Gulf" are swung out, 
and a boat's crew, with a lieutenant and dapper midshipman, climb in. A 
quick order, " Let fall there," and the boat drops into the water, and is 
headed for the prize. Another moment, and the stars and stripes supplant 
the pillow-case waving from the masthead of the "Young Republic." An 
tfficer who went into the boiler-room found that the captured crew had 
I)lanned to blow up the vessel by tying down the safety-vahe, so that an 
enormous pressure of steam strained the boilers almost to bursting. A 
quick blow of a hatchet, and that danger was done away with. Then, with 
a prize-crew on board, the " Young Republic " started on her voyage to 
New York; while the "Grand Gulf" returned to Wilmington to hunt for 
fresh game. 

A curious capture was that of the British schooner "Francis," which 
was running between Nassau and the coast of Florida. On her last trip 
she was nearing the coast, when she fell in with a fishing-smack, and was 
warned that a Federal gunboat was not far away. Still she kept on her 
course until sundown, when the breeze went down, and she lay becalmed 
The gunboat had been steaming into inlets and lagoons all day, and had 
not sighted the schooner. When night came on, she steamed out into the 
open sea, within a quarter of a mile of the blockade-runner, and, putting 
out all lights, lay to for the night. Those on the schooner could see the 
gunboat, but the lookout on the cruiser did not see the blockade-runner. 
Soon a heavy fog came up, and entirely hid the vessels from each other. 
The blockade-runners could only hope that a breeze might spring up, and 
enable them to escape. But now a curious thing occurred. It a'.mos? 
6eems as if two vessels on the ocean e.xercise a magnetic attraction for 
each other, so often do collisions occur where there seems room for all the 
navies of the world to pass in review. So it was this night. The anxious 



BLUE-JACKEIS OF '6i. 647 



men on the schooner soon found that the two vessels were drifting together, 
and they were absolutely powerless to prevent it. At midnight, though 
they could see nothing, they could hear the men on the gunboat talking. 
Two hours after, the schooner nestled gently up by the side of the gunboat ; 
and a slight jar gave its crew their first intimation that a prize was there, 
simply waiting to be taken. All they had to do was to climb over the 
railing. This was promptly done, and the disgusted blockade-runners 
were sent below as prisoners. Half an hour later came a breeze tha' 
would have carried them safely to port. 

The gray sea-fogs played many scurvy tricks with the blockading 
fleets, often letting the runners in right under the muzzles of the great 
guns. It was far easier to spy out a vessel in the darkest night than in 
the thick gray fog that enveloped all objects like a blanket. One of the 
strangest of all the pranks played by the fog occurred in December, 1863, 
in Charleston Harbor. A wary blockade-runner was creeping out of the 
harbor, within easy range of the great guns of the fleet, and all hands were 
trembling, lest at any minute should come the flash of a gun, and shriek oi 
1 shell, beaiing a peremptory command to heave to. Suddenly the flash 
came, and was followed b)' the bang! bang! of great guns from all quarters 
of the fleet. But the fire seemed pointed in another direction ; and the 
runner made the best of her way out to sea, thinking that some less fortu- 
nate vessel, trying to come in on the other side of the fleet, had been 
captured or blown out of the water. It turned out that a small fog-bank 
had taken the form of a gray steamer moving swiftly over the water, and 
had been fiercely cannonaded by the whole Federal fleet. This occurrence 
gave the Confederates an idea; and they began sending out dummies to 
engage the fleet, while the true blockade-runners would slip out unobserved 
in the excitement. One night as the tide was running out with great force, 
an old hulk was cut adrift from a wharf, and drifted down rapidly upon 
the Federal fleet It was just after the exploits of the "Merrimac" had 
made Confederate rams famous, and the naval officers were a little nervous. 
The hulk drifted quite into the midst of the fleet before being observed ; 
and when she was hailed she bore down on the largest of the men-of-war 
as though she were a powerful ram, steered by a commander of desperate 
bravery. The great gunboat's deck rang with the bo's'n's whistle, as the 
crew were piped to repel boarders, and to their quarters at the guns. A 



648 BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 

fierce fire was poured on the hostile craft, that came on sullenly, as it 
scorning to make reply. One by one the other vessels of the fleet drew 
near, and concentrated their fire on the wretched lumber schooner. It 
was too much for her ; and she gave up the unequal combat, and sank to 
' I he bottom. For days after, the gallant tars of the squadron blockading 
Charleston rejoiced in the destruction of a " Rebel ram ; " but none of them 
knew, that, while they were engaged in the desperate contest, two great 
blockade-runners, heavily laden with cotton, had slipped out of the harbor, 
and were well under way for Nassau. 

Stories of adventure and of desperate pluck and dash abound in the 
records of the blockade. Both among the officers of the blockading-fleets, 
anil the commanders of the runners, were found great courage and fine 
seamanship. One fact is particularly noticeable to the student of the 
blockade : an English captain running the blockade would never dare 
the dangers that a Confederate would brave without a tremor. A Con- 
federate captain would rush his ship through the hostile fleet, and stick 
to her until she sunk ; while an Englishman would run his ship ashore, and 
take to the woods. The cases of the " Hattie," commanded by H. S. 
Lebby, a Confederate, and the " Princess Royal," a fine, staunch, iron 
steamer, with an English commander and crew, are typical. The " Hattie " 
ivas the last runner to enter or leave Charleston Harbor. She was a small, 
ivvift steamer ; but she made more successful trips than any other runner 
Men living in Charleston to-day, who were interested in the work of this 
little vessel during the war, say that her cargoes were worth at least fifty 
millions of dollars. She had numerous narrow escapes, but was never 
captured. Her reputation was such that the Confederate authorities 
selected her as the vessel to bring in army supplies and ammunition, 
and at least three battles were fought with ammunition brought in her 
hold. Her last entrance to Charleston was one night in February, 1865. 
Eighteen Federal vessels lay anchored off the harbor, and for a runner to 
venture in seemed madness. But the captain of the "Hattie" was used 
to taking desperate chances, and he proposed to enter that harbor. The 
ship had been freshly painted a blue-white, and as she drifted along the 
water, with all lights out, looked like a bank of mist. She was within two 
hundred yards of the outer row of blockaders before her presence was 
Uetccted. Suddenly fire was opened on her from the nearest gunboat, and 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 649 

ill an instant the air was full of rockets announcing her presence. Tb.c 
little vessel had no means of retaliation : all there was for her to do was to 
(lash through the fire and make for the city. Steam was crowded on ; and 
she flew up the channel, running the gauntlet of the fleet, and escaping 
almost untouched. Then came the real peril. Just below Fort Sumter 
were two barges anchored in the channel, and filled with armed men. Past 
these she dashed, her great speed saving her from boarding ; but she 
received the fire of both boats, which wounded several of her crew, and cut 
off the fingers of the pilot's hand resting on the wheel. This danger past, 
there was one more to be met. A large monitor lay anchored up the 
harbor, and the "Mattie" was running so close to her that the commands of 
the officers in the turret could be clearly heard. One after the other the 
two great guns were fired, both shots missing; and the "Hattic," safely past 
the gauntlet, sailed up to the dock in triumph. But by that time it was 
clear that the last days of the war were near at hand, and accordingly the 
work of unloading and reloading the \'esscl for her outward trip was pressed 
with the greatest vigor. All the time she lay at her dock, Charleston was 
being vigorously bombarded by the Federal men-of-war lying outside the 
harbor. The bay fairly swarmed with blockading cruisers ; yet a week later 
the little steamer slipped out through a fleet of twenty-six cruisers without 
being hailed, and carried her cotton safely to market. When the news 
of Lee's surrender was received, she was lying safe at her dock in Nassau. 

The "Princess Royal," to which we have alluded, was a large iron screw 
steamer, freighted with drugs, army supplies, guns, and two engines and 
boilers for two iron-clads in Charleston Harbor, — a most valuable and im- 
portant cargo for the Confederates. She made the run from Nassau to a 
point near the coast without adventure, and in the early gray of the morning 
was stealing up the coast towards the harbor, when a bloekader caught 
sight of her, and started in pursuit. The later began firing when a mile 
and a half away ; and, though there was hardly a chance of the shots taking 
effect, the cannonade gave the captain of the runner the cold shakes. His 
boat was one of the fastest on the ocean, and he needed only to put on 
steam to escape all the blockaders on the coast. But he was a thorough 
paced coward ; and, thinking only of his own safety, he headed the craft 
for the beach, and with his crew fled into the woods. The valuable ship 
and her cargo fell into the hands of the Federals. 



650 LLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 



Sometimes runners were captured through apparently the most trivinl 
accidents. One ship, heavily laden with army supplies, and carrying a 
large number of passengers, was running through the blockading-fleet, and 
seemed sure of escape. All lights were out, the passengers were in the 
cabin, not a word was to be heard on deck, even the commands of the 
officers being delivered in whispers. Suddenly a prolonged cock-crow rent 
the air, and, with the silence of every thing surrounding, sounded like a 
clarion peal from a trumpet. The deck-hands rushed for a box of poultry 
on the deck, and dragged out bird after bird, wringing their necks. Tlie 
true offender was almost the last to be caught, and avenged the deaths 
of his brothers by crowing vigorously all the time. The noise was enough 
to alarm the blockaders ; and in a moment the hail, " Surrender, or we'll 
blow you out of water!" brought the unlucky runner to a standstill, — a 
prisoner. The " Southern Cross " narrowly escaped capture on account of 
tne stupidity of an Irish deck-hand, whose craving for tobacco proved too 
strong for his discretion. The ship was steaming slyly by two cruisers, 
and in the darkness would have escaped unseen, when the deck-hand, 
who had been without a smoke as long as he could stand it, lit a match 
ami puffed away at his pipe. The tiny flame was enough for the cruisers, 
and they began a spirited cannonade. The "Southern Cross" ran for her 
life. The shooting was guess-work, but the gunners on the cruisers shov/ed 
all the proverbial Yankee skill at guessing. The first ball carried away 
the roof of the pilot-house, and the second ripped away the railing along 
tlie deck for thirty feet. But the captain was plucky, and made a run for 
it. He was forced to pass within a hundred feet of one of the cruisers ; and 
as he saw the muzzles of the great guns bearing on his ship, he heard 
the command, " Heave to, or I'll sink you." But he took his chances, and 
escaped with only the damage caused by a solid shot crashing through 
the hull. 

One of the strangest experiences of all was that of the captain of a 
blockade-runner putting in to Wilmington one bitter cold night, when 
the snow was blowing in clouds, and the fingers of the men at the wheel 
and the sailors on watch were frostbitten. The runner had reached the 
harbor safely; but there in channel lay a blockader in such a position 
that any ship coming in must pass within a hundred feet of her. The 
Confederate had a light-draught vessel, and tried to squeeze through. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 651 

When he passed the gunboat, only twelve feet of space separated the two 
vessels ; and he saw a lookout, with his arms on the rail, looking right at 
the passing vessel. The Confederate expected an immediate alarm, but 
it did not come. Wondering at the cause, but happy in his luck, he sped 
on, and gained the harbor safely. Some days after, he learned that the 
lookout was a dead man, frozen at his post of duty. 

It will readily be understood that the inducements offered to blockade- 
runners must have been immense to persuade men to run such risks. The 
officers and sailors made money easily, and spent it royally when they 
reached Nassau. " I never e.xpect to see such flush times again in my 
life," said a blockade-running captain, speaking of Nassau. " Money was 
as plentiful as dirt. I have seen a man toss up a twenty-dollar gold piece 
on "heads or tails," and it would be followed by a score of the yellow boys 
in five seconds. There were times when the bank-vaults could not hold 
all the gold, and the coins were dumped down by the bushel, and guarded 
by soldiers. Men wagered, gambled, drank, and seemed crazy to get rid 
of their money. I once saw two captains bet five hundred dollars each 
on the length of a certain porch. Again I saw a wager of eight hundred 
dollars a side as to how many would be at the dinner table of a certain 
hotel. The Confederates were paying the English big prices for goods, 
but multiplying the figures by five, seven, and ten as soon as the goods 
were landed in Charleston. Ten dollars invested in quinine in Nassau 
would bring from four hundred to six hundred dollars in Charleston. A 
pair of four-dollar boots would bring from fourteen to sixteen dollars ; a 
two-dollar hat would bring eight dollars, and so on through all the list of 
goods brought in. Every successful captain might have made a fortune 
in a year; but it is not believed that five out of the whole number had 
a thousand dollars on hand when the war closed. It was come easy, 
go easy " 



^"^^^^^ 







CHAPTER VIII. 



DUPONT'S EXPEDITION TO HILTON HEAD AND PORT ROYAL. - THE FIERY CIRCLE. 




HE great joint naval and military expedition, which in August. 
1861, had reduced the forts at Hatteras Inlet, and, continuing 
its progress, had, by successive victories, brought Roanoke Island, 
Nevvbern, Elizabeth City, and the Sounds of Pamlico and Albe- 
marle under the sway of the Federal Government, was but the first of a 
series of expeditions intended to drive the Confederates from the Atlantic 
seaboard, and secure for the United States vessels safe harbors and coaling 
stations in the bays and inlets along the South Atlantic coast. The 
proper maintenance of the blockade made it necessary that the seaboard 
should be in the hands of the Federals. For a blockadcr off Charleston 
or Wilmington to be forced to return to Hampton Roads to coal or to 
make repairs, would entail the loss of weeks, perhaps months, of valuable 
time. Besides, the sounds and inlets with which that irregular coast is 
honey-combed were of great use to the Confederates, who could construct 
at their leisure great rams like the "Merrimac" or "Albemarle," and 
hurl them against the fleet with the hope of breaking the blockade. Such 
opportunities were eagerly seized by the Confederates whenever offered ; 
and in many cases the defeating of their purposes seems almost providen 
652 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6l. 653 



tial, so great was the seeming disparity between the attacking ram and 
the forces which finally repulsed it. 

In reviewing the part of the navy in the civil war, we find that it 
acted like a great iron band, ever drawing closer and closer about the 
Confederacy, forcing the Southern armies from one point after another, 
until at last the whole coast was in the hands of the Unionists, and the 
Confederates were driven into the interior, there to be dealt with by the 
Northern armies. One is reminded of that iron chamber in Poe's story, 
which day by day grows smaller and smaller, until the wretched prisoner 
within is forced into the pit yawning in the centre. So, during the 
war, the Confederates lost Hatteras Inlet, Roanoke Island, Hilton Head, 
F'ernandina, Mobile, New Orleans, and Galveston comparatively early in 
the struggle. Wilmington, behind the almost impregnable bastions of 
Fort Fisher, and Charleston, surrounded by a cordon of defensive forts, 
remained the last strongholds of the Confederacy on the Atlantic coast, 
until the final downfall of the great uprising. 

Shortly after the capture of the Hatteras Forts, the navy department 
saw the need of a harbor and base of naval operations farther south. 
Charleston, with its powerful defences, was deemed impregnable at that 
time ; and elaborate descriptions of the Southern coast were prepared, 
setting forth the advantages and disadvantages of available Southern ports. 
Fernandina, Brunswick, Port Royal, and Bull's Bay, were duly considered ; 
and, while the Navy Department was debating which point to seize, Admiral 
Dupont was diligently fitting out an expedition to be in readiness to attack 
any that should be determined upon. Up to the last moment it was 
thought that Fernandina would be selected. But finally, with the advice 
of Gen. Sherman, it was determined to make the attempt to wrest Port 
Royal from the Confederates. 

Port Royal is the general name given to a broad body of water formed 
by the confluence of the Broad and Beaufort Rivers, and opening into 
t!ie Atlantic Ocean on the South Carolina coast, about midway between 
Charleston and Savannah. No more beautiful region is to be found in 
the world. Far enough south to escape the rigors of the northern winters, 
and far enough north to be free from the enervating heat of the tropics ; 
honeycombed by broad, salt-water lagoons, giving moisture and mildness 
to the air, — the country about Port Royal is like a great garden ; and even 



654 BLUE-JACKETS OF '6t. 



to day, ravaged though it was by the storms of war, it shows many traces 
of its former beauty. It is in this region that are found the famous Sea 
Islands, on which grows cotton so much more fleecy and fine of fibre thr-n 
the product of the interior, that it is known the world over as Sea Island 
cotton, and sells at the highest price in the markets of England. In 
'6i the islands bore the great hospitable manor-houses of the Southern 
planters ; broad of rooms and wide of piazzas, and always open for the 
entertainment of travellers, were they friends or strangers. The planters 
living there were among the wealthiest in the South, at a time when all 
planters were wealthy. They numbered their slaves by thousands. Stand- 
ing on the broad piazza of one of these Southern homes, one could see the 
rows of rough huts that made up the negro quarters, and liear faintly 
the sound of the banjo and rude negro melodies, mingling with the music 
of piano or harp within the parlor of the mansion-house. Refined by 
education and travel, the planters of the region about Port Royal made 
up a courtly society, until war burst upon them, and reduced their estates 
to wildernesses, and themselves to beggary. 

At the head of the Beaufort River stood the little town of Beaufort. 
Before the war this was a thriving place ; its magnificent harbor made it 
easily accessible for the largest merchant-ships, and the richly productive 
country round about furnished heavy cargoes of the fleecy staple that gave 
to the South the name of the "cotton kingdom." On Saturdays and holi- 
days the broad streets of Beaufort would be crowded with carriages ami 
horsemen from the neighboring plantations. The planters, in broad-brimmed 
hats and suits of snowy linen, thronged the broad piazzas of the hotel, or 
grouped together in the shade of the spreading trees that lined the streets, 
discussing the cotton crops and prices. Now all is changed. Beaufort is a 
sleepy little village, with no sign of trade, domestic or foreign ; and the 
cnintry round about, once dotted with handsome plantation homes, now 
seems a very wilderness, save where Northerners have erected for them 
selves winter homes on the Sea Islands. 

It was late in October, 1861, when the final determination to attack the 
forts at Port Royal was reached. For weeks before, the squadron lying at 
Hampton Roads had been making preparations for a great naval movement, 
and all the newspapers of the North were filled with wise speculations as to 
its objective point. Reporters, correspondents, and editors were alike baffled 
in their efforts to secure accurate information; and even the commanders of 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



655 



the men-of-war were ignorant of their destination. But it seems that the 
Confederates were warned by some of their sympathizers in Washington, 
and the destination of the fleet was better known south of Mason and 
Dixon's line than in the North. On Tuesday, Oct. 29, the squadron was all 
ready for the voyage. It was by far the most powerful fleet ever gathered 
under the flag of the United States. Twenty-five vessels laden with coal 
had sailed the day before. On the placid waters of the bay, under the 





'1 ti' C- ^ ■^^^^-'^^^^-'-^^^is 



' ":St'*^?i^? 



^-A-^-^^-i>- 



FORTRESS MONROE 



frowning walls of Fortress Monroe, floated fifty men-of-war and transports. 
The day was clear, and the breeze brisk, and the hearts of the jolly jack-tars 
bounded within them as they thought of escaping from the long inactivity 
of a season in port. Long-boats bearing despatches rowed from ship to 
ship; hucksters from the shore came off in dories, dingies, and all variety of 
queer craft, to drive a farewell bargain with the sailors. The transport 
vessels were crowded with soldiers in the gay uniforms of militia commands. 



656 BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 



(It was early in the war then, and they had not learned that a man could 
fight as well in dingy rags.) The " Wabash " was flag-ship, and aboard hor 
was Admiral DuPont. When she made the signal for getting under way, 
all was bustle and animation on all the other vessels of the fleet, and on all 
sides could be heard the noise of preparation for the start. The boatswains 
piped away cheerily ; and a steady tramp, tramp, from the deck of each ship, 
and the clicking of the capstan catches, told that the anchors were coming 
up. Soon from the black funnels of the steamers clouds of smoke began to 
pour, and in the rigging of the sail frigates were crowds of nimble sailors. 
The commands " All ready ! Let fall ! " rang sharply over the water from 
the ships. Broad sheets of snowy canvas appeared where before were but 
ropes and spars, and in a moment the whole squadron was under way. The 
steamers led off briskly, with much churning of the water by their paddle- 
wheels and " brazen-fins ; " after them followed the magnificent sailing 
frigates, with sail set, — lofty masses of canvas towering toward the skies, and 
moving with stately grace. At the very head of all went the flag-ship, the 
i;rand old " Wabash," with the flag of Admiral DuPont floating from the 
fore. None of the commanders knew whither they were bound. All were 
to follow the flag-ship, and in event of separation to refer to sealed orders 
with which each was provided. For the first day all went well. The prom- 
ise of fair weather given by the beautiful day of starting seemed about to be 
fulfilled. But on the second night, as they came near the terrible region 
of Cape Hatteras, the wind began to freshen, and continued increasing in 
fierceness until it fairly blew a gale. The night was pitchy dark, and the 
crews on the vessels could hardly see the craft by which they were sur- 
rounded. Great as was the danger of being cast on the treacherous shoals 
of Hatteras, the peril of instant destruction by collision was even more im- 
minent. Fifty vessels, heavily freighted with human lives, were pitching 
and tossing within a few rods of each other, and within a few miles of a lee 
shore. It seemed that the destruction of a large number of the vessels was 
unavoidable; and the sailors may be pardoned, if, remembering the mishaps 
of the Burnside expedition, they conceived Hatteras to be tenanted by an 
evil spirit, determined to prevent the invasion of Confederate territory. To 
add to the danger, the Confederates had extinguished the warning light at 
the Cape, and the navigators of the fleet had nothing to guide them in their 
course. When morning came, the fleet was pretty well scattered, although 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 657 

still many vessels were near enough together to be in no small danger. The 

transport " Winfield Scott," which carried four hundred and fifty soldiers. 

besides a large crew, was observed to be rolling heavily, and flying signals 

of distress. From the decks of the " Bienville," the nearest steamer, the 

officers with their glasses could see the crew of the distressed vessel work 

ing like beavers, throwing overboard every thing of weight to lighten the 

ship. Notwithstanding all their efforts, she was clearly water-logged, and 

sunk so low in the water that wave after wave broke over her decks, every 

now and then sweeping a man away to sure death in the raging sea. It 

seemed folly to attempt to launch lifeboats in such a furious sea, but the 

captain of the "Bienville " determined to make the attempt to save the men 

on the doomed "Winfield Scott." The crew was piped to quarters, and the 

captain asked for volunteers to go to the rescue. Man after man stepped 

forward, until enough had been secured to man three boats with ten men 

each. Carefully the boats were dropped into the sea, and man after man 

swung into chem ; then they put off and started for the sinking ship. But 

while these preparations were being made, the two ships had been drifting 

closer and closer together. Soon it was seen that a collision was inevitable. 

Fortunately the boats were broadside on, so that the cutting effect of a blow 

from the bow was avoided. They were presently so near each other that 

the men began jumping from the deck of the " Winfield Scot " ui)on that 

of the " Bienville." The leap, though a perilous one, was made in safety by 

over thirty men. Suddenly a great wave lifted the ships up and dashed 

them together. Three poor wretches, just about to jump, were caught 

between the vessels and crushed to death. A few sharp cries of agony, and 

all was over; and the vessels, drifting apart, let their bodies, crushed beyond 

recognition, fall into the water. By this time the small boats, with their 

determined crews on board, had succeeded in getting around to the lee side 

of the sinking ship, and the work of getting the soldiers and sailors over 

the side was begun. By the most strenuous efforts all were saved, and the 

"Bienville " steamed away, leaving the "Winfield Scott" to her fate. 

Night came on, with the gale blowing with still greater fury. The 

wind shrieked through the cordage, and now and again a great wave would 

sweep across the decks of the crowded vessels, making the men hang 

on to the rigging for dear life. Soon another ship began to go to pieces. 

The "Governor," which had been steaming along near the " Wahash" 
23 



IHiliiiic 







6^8 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. Cj-.q 

since the time of leaving Hampton Roads, had become separated from 
her consort during the gale of the first day. On the second night, those 
aboard her perceived that she was showing signs of weakness, and was 
likely to go down with all on board unless aid could be obtained. Not 
a sail, however, was in sight; and every wave seemed about to overvvheh.r 
or dash to pieces the frail craft. She labored heavily in the furious sea. 
By and by the strain on her timbers was such that the port hog-brace broke 
in two places, weakening the vessel so that her fate was apparent to all. 
Soldiers and sailors worked away with a frantic energy born by the fear 
of death, and succeeded in bracing up the timbers, so as to avoid, for a time, 
the breaking-up. Soon after, a heavy roll of the vessel broke the smoke- 
stack, and it was pitched overboard. Luckily it broke some three feet 
above the deck, so that the fires could still be kept up. Then the steam- 
pipe burst ; and with this accident the fate of all on board seemed sealed, 
for they no longer could keep the vessel's head to the waves, and the great 
^^as came rolling over her, sweeping her decks of every thing movable 
Chey began sending up rockets, and, after some time of an.xious waiting, 
saw an answering signal ; so that, through the remainder of that fearful 
night, the men on the doomed ship felt that, whatever might occur, they 
had friends at hand. The night was spent in toil at the pumps ; and in 
the morning a faint cheer went up as two vessels were seen, ready to lend 
assistance. A signal of distress, quickly hoisted, was answered from the 
nearer, which proved to be the "Isaac P. Smith." The "Smith" sent off 
a boat and made fast a hawser to the wreck, and took her in tow ; but in a 
few minutes the hawser parted. It became clear that the men must 
be taken off the sinking ship ; but how to do it, was the question. By this 
time a second ship, the "Young Rover," had arrived to assist in the rescue. 
A second cable was put aboard ; but this, too, parted. Hope seemed lost, 
when the lookout reported a third ship, the frigate "Sabine," coming to 
the rescue. The "Sabine" came to anchor, and sent a hawser aboard 
the sinking "Governor." Then the hawser was gradually taken in until the 
two ships lay close together, stern to stern. Spars were rigged over the 
stern of the frigate, and some thirty men swung over the seething waters 
to safety. Then the two vessels came together with a crash, and about 
forty men sprang from the sinking ship to the deck of the frigate. But 
the damage done by the collision was so great that it was deemed prudent 
to slack up the hawser and let the "Governor" drop astern again. Those 



66o BLUE-JACKETS OF "61. 



on board busied themselves throwing overboard all things movable, with 
the intention of lightening the vessel. After some hours of suspense, the 
work of getting the men off the sinking craft was recommenced, and boats 
were sent to their assistance. The sea was running too high for them to 
approach close to the steamer's guards, so they lay off some feet, and the 
soldiers jumped into them. It was a perilous leap, with the boats pitching 
one way, and the ship another, and a raging sea of tossing waters between ; 
but it was made bravely by every man, and but seven or eight were lost. 
Soon after the last man left the "Governor," she lurched to one side and 
sank, carrying with her the arms and ammunition of the troops she was 
transporting. 

It was on ]\Tonday morning, Nov. 4, lliat the fl ig-ship "Wabash" cast 
anchor off Port Royal. In the ofhng were a few i,.ore sail headed foi 
the same point, and during the day some twenty-five vessels of the scattered 
squadron came up. For the next day ships were constantly airiving, and 
by Tuesday night the whole squadron lay safely anchored in the broad 
harbor. 

The defences which the Confederates had erected upon Hilton Head, 
a lofty bluff overlooking the harbor, were powerfully designed earthworks, 
poorly armed and manned. The forts were two in number, placed on a 
commanding elevation, and might have been made impregnable had the 
Confederates taken advantage of the warning sent them by their spies 
in Washington. Fort Walker had fourteen guns which could bear on 
an attacking fleet, and Fort Beauregard had twenty. When the fight 
began, the gunners found that most of their ammunition was either too 
large or too small for the guns. To support the forts in their fight, was 
a wretched little fleet of tugs and schooners, mounting a gun or two each, 
but absolutely powerless before the smallest of Du Font's ships-of-war. 
Indeed, when the battle began, the Union navy gave its undivided attention 
to the forts, and did not even give battle to Tatnall's mosquito fleet. 

Thursday morning dawned bright and mild as a morning in June. 
The shores of the beautiful bay were covered with woods, out of which 
rung the clear notes of Southern song-birds. The scene from the ships was 
one of the most charming imaginable. The placid bay, the luxuriant 
shores, the ocean showing across the low-lying ridge of white sand, the 
forts frowning from the steep headland, the fleet of majestic frigates 
niustered for ^'^q ?.tt?,c'' ^md 'n the distance the flotilla of defenceless 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



66 1 



transports, safely out of range, their decks and rigging crowded with fifteen 
thousand men — all this presented a panorama of hfe and beauty which 
few eyes have ever beheld. 

Du Pont, in the majestic "Wabash," moved down the bay, and, as he 
came in range of Fort Walker, sent a shell shrieking from a bow-gun, as 
R'gnal that the action was begun. The old frigate moved on slowly, making 




THE OPENING GUN. 



play with the bow-guns until abreast of the fort, when with a crash she 
let fly her whole broadside. On she went for a few yards, then turning 
in a grand circle came back, giving the other broadside to the forts as slie 
passed. The other ships fell in behind; and round and round before the 
forts the fiery circle revolved, spitting out fire and ponderous iron bolts, 
and making the peaceful shores of the bay tremble with the deep reverbera- 
tions of the cannon. 



662 BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 

The Confederates, for their part, went into the action with the utmost 
coolness. They had been assured that their position was impregnable, and 
liad been cautioned to be deliberate and determined in their defence. For 
a time their artillery service was admirable. But soon they found certain 
discouraging features about the affair. Their guns were too light to have 
iir.y effect on the fleet, and their powder was of sucli bad quality that 
many of their shots fell short. Two great guns dismounted themselves, 
seriously injuring the men who were handling them, and the very first 
broadside from the fleet dismounted several more. Then it was found that 
the shells for the great Parrott guns were too large, and that the shells 
from other cannon failed to explode, owing to defective fuses. Soon the 
fleet found a point of fire from which it could enfilade the forts, and there- 
after a perfect hail of shell and grape-shot fell in the trenches. One shell 
disabled eleven rnen. A solid shot struck a gun thought to be perfectly 
protected, and hurled it, with the men serving it, over the parapet. Every 
twenty minutes a gun was dismounted in Fort Walker, and at the end of 
lie conflict Fort Beauregard had but nine serviceable guns. 

I^or about four hours there was no cessation of fire on the part of the 
fleet. Round and round the circle the vessels steamed, giving one fort 
a broadside on the way up, and the other a broadside on the way down. 
The bombs rose from them in a majestic sweep through the air, and 
plunged into the fort, exploding with a roar equal to that of a cannon. 
One ship was commanded by Capt. Drayton, who rained shot and shell 
mercilessly against the forts, although one of them was in command of 
his own brother. 

At half-past one Fort Walker was found untenable, and the work of 
abandoning it was begun. The evacuation was completed in great haste, 
many valuables were left behind, and not even the guns were spiked. Still 
'.c entire garrison escaped to mainland, although the Federals had three 
'Ousand troops who might have made them all prisoners. Not long 
thereafter, Fort Beauregard also yielded to fate, and the day was won by 
the Federals. 

The landing of the troops was at once begun. Thirty large boats 
bore a Connecticut regiment of one thousand men to the beach. Their 
bright, fresh uniforms, their muskets glittering in the sun, and their 
regular, swaying stride as they marched up the sandy beach to the martial 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. ^6. 



strains of the regimental band, mack a striking picture. They clambered 
over the ramparts, and in a few moiMcnts the stars and stripes floated 
from the staff which had but lately upheld the flag of the young Con- 
federacy. Within the forts, all was carnage and confusion : dismounted 
cannon, surrounded by the dead bodies of the gunners, heaps of shells; 
and fragments of wood-work, were piled about the parade-ground and 
in the trenches. The story of the terrific bombardment was graphically 
told by those horrible evidences of death and destruction. And well 
might the scene be a horrible one. For over five hours, fifty shot a minute 
had been discharged at the forts, and most of them did execution. When 
one recollects that each shot of the great guns cost eight dollars, we get 
a vivid idea of the money spent in war. 

Immediately upon the capture of Hilton Head, the victors began 
making it a great naval and military station. Great storehouses were 
built, wharves constructed, and vast intrenchments thrown up for the 
defence of the spot. The slaves, escaping from the neighboring planta- 
tions, came in droves, begging to be allowed to work ; but they received 
but a cold welcome, for they were still looked upon as property, and the 
officers did not wish to be charged with enticing them away from their 
masters. 

The news of the occupation of Hilton Head by the Northern armies 
caused the greatest consternation in the cities of Charleston and Savannah. 
From both places people fled into the interior, expecting an immediate 
advance of the Union troops. But the armies were set to digging, not 
to marching, and soon the affrighted citizens returned to their homes. 
Port Royal was held by the Northern forces until the end of the war, anc? 
proved of great value for the proper maintenance of the blockade. 1(3 
greatest disadvantage was its unhealthiness. Of fifteen thousand men 
landed there in November, five thousand were on the sick-list within c 
month. 







^>> 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE FIRST IRON-CLAD VESSELS IN HISTORY.-THE "MERRIMAC" SINKS THE "CUMBERLAND,' 
AND DESTROYS THE " CONGRESS." — DUEL BETWEEN THE "MONITOR" AND "MERRIMAC." 




T will be remembered that when the Union forces, alarmed by the 
threatening attitude of the inhabitants of Norfolk and the vicinity, 
fled from the Norfolk navy-yard, leaving every thing there in flames, 
they left behind them a fine United States frigate, " Merrimac," a 
ship of thirty-five hundred tons, carrying forty guns. The departing Feder- 
als did their work of destruction fairly well ; for the great ship was burnt to 
the upper edge of her copper sheathing, and sank to the bottom of the river. 
Three or four months after the occupation of the Norfolk navy-yard by the 
Confederates, Lieut. George M. Brooke, an ex-officer of the United States 
navy, who had resigned that he might follow the fortunes of his State, while 
looking at the hulk lying in the river-channel, was suddenly inspired with 
ihe thought that she might be raised and converted into a formidable vessel- 
of-war. He carefully matured his plans, and after due consideration pro- 
posed to the Confederate secretary of the navy, that the "Merrimac" be 
raised and converted into an iron-clad. His plans were ap])rovcd, and orders 
were given that they should be carried out. Tiie "Merrimac," as originally 
built, was one of the grand old types of war-vessels. Her solid oak sides 
rose high above the water, and were pierced by a long row of gaping port- 
664 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



66: 



holes. Her masts towered high in the air; and when her great sails were 
set, her hull seemed crushed beneath so vast an expanse of canvas. When 
she had been remodelled, her entire appearance was changed. She had no 
longer the appearance of a ship, but seemed like a house afloat ; and tradi- 
tion says that the old salt on the " Cumberland," who first sighted her, re- 
ported gravely to the officer of the deck, "Quaker meetin'-house floating 
down the bay, sir." 

When the hulk had been raised and placed in the dry-dock, the first thing 
done was to cut it down to the level of the berth-deck ; that is, to the level 
of the deck below the gun-deck in the old rig. Then both ends of the ship 
were decked over for a distance of seventy feet ; while the midship section 
was covered by a sort of roof, or pent-house, one hundred and seventy feet 
long, and extending about seven feet above the gun-deck. This roof was of 
pitch pine and oak, twenty-four inches thick, and covered with iron plates 
two inches thick. The upper part of the roof, being flat, was railed in, mak- 
ing a kind of promenade deck. In the great chamber formed by this roof 
w^ere mounted ten guns, two of which, the bow and stern guns, were seven- 
inch rifles, and fairly powerful guns for those days. A strange feature of 
this ship, and one that was not discovered until she was launched, was that 
the weight of the iron-plating and the heavy guns she carried sunk her so 
deep in the water that the low deck forward and aft of the gun-room wau 
always under water ; so much so that the commander of another ship in the 
Confederate navy writes that he was obliged always to give the "Merrimac" 
a wide berth, lest he should run his ship on some part of the ram which lay 
unseen beneath the surface of the water. Powerful as this ship was, she had 
some serious defects. The greatest of these were her engines. They were 
the same that had been in her as a United States vessel, and had been con- 
demned by a naval board as very defective. Naturally several weeks under 
water had not improved them ; but the Confederates could not be particular 
about machinery just then, and the old engines were left in the new ram. 
It was quickly found that they could not be depended upon more than six 
hours at a time; and one of the ship's officers, in writing years afterwards, 
remarks, "A more ill-contrived or unreliable pair of engines could only have 
been found in some vessels of the United States navy." The second faulty 
feature about the "Merrimac" was that her rudder and propeller were 
<;ntirely unprotected. The ram which was so much dreaded, and which 



666 BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 



made the " Merrimac " a forerunner of a new class of war-vessels, was of 
cast-iron, projecting four feet, and so badly secured that it was loosened 
in ramming the " Cumberland," and started a bad leak in the Confederate 
ship. 

When this formidable vessel was completed, she was christened by her 
new owners the "Virginia;" but the name of the old United States frigate 
of which she was built stuck to her, and she has ever since been known as 
the " Merrimac," and so we shall speak of her in this narrative. She 
received as commander Commodore Franklin Buchanan, an ex-Union 
officer of ability and daring, to whom the cadets of the naval academy 
at Annapolis owe the beautiful situation of the academy, and many of 
its admirable features; for he it was, who, in 1845, under a commission 
from Mr. Bancroft, Secretary of the Navy, organized and located the naval 
academy, and launched that institution upon its successful career. Of 
officers the "Merrimac" had no lack, and good ones they were; but in her 
crew she was lamentably deficient. Most of the crew was made up of 
men from the army, who knew nothing of seamanship, but who could at 
any rate fire a gun. A few good sailors were obtained from those who 
escaped to Norfolk after the destruction of the Confederate flotill'a at 
Elizabeth City by Capt. Rowan's squadron. They had but little chance 
for drills and exercise on the new ship, for up to the very hour of sailing 
she was crowded with workmen getting her ready for the task of breaking 
down the Yankee blockade. When she finally set out to do battle for the 
South, she was a new and untried ship : not a gun had been fired, and 
hardly a revolution of her engines had been made. And so she started 
down the river on her trial trip, but intending, nevertheless, to do battle 
with the strongest ships of the United States navy. Accompanying her 
were four small Confederate gunboats, — the "Beaufort," the " Yorktown," 
I'le "Jamestown," and the "Teaser." Soon rounding out into Hampton 
-^oads, the little squadron caught sight of the Northern fleet at anchor, and 
made for them. An officer on the " Congress " thus tells the story of the 
events that followed : — 

"The 8th of March was a fine mild day, such as is common in Southern 
Virginia during the early spring; and every one on board our ship was 
enjoying the weather, and pleasing himself with the prospect of going 
North in a day or two at farthest, and being relieved from the monotony 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 667 

of a blockade at anchor. Some of us were pacing the poop, basking 
in the sun, and watching the gulls, which here, as all over the world, 
wherever a man-of-war is anchored, manage to find out when it is dinner- 
time, appearing regularly when the mess-tins are being washed, and the 
cooks are taking the buckets of broken victuals to the head to throw over- 
board. Then they chatter and scream, and fight for the remnants as they 
drift astern, until all is consumed, when they betake themselves to fresh 
fields out of sight until we pipe to dinner again. 

" One bell had struck some time, when the attention of the quarter- 
master on watch was drawn to an unusual appearance against the fringe 
of woods away over in the Norfolk Channel. After gazing intently some 
time, he approached the officer of the deck, and presenting him the glass 
said, ' I believe that thing is a-comin' down at last, sir.' 

" Sure enough ! There was a huge black roof, with a smokestack emer- 
ging from it, creeping down towards Sewall's Point. Three or four satel- 
lites, in the shape of small steamers and tugs, surrounded and preceded 
her. Owing to the intervening land, they could not be seen from Hamptor 
Roads until some time after we had made them out ; but, when they did 
show themselves clear of the point, there was a great stir among the 
shipping. But they turned up into the James River channel instead of 
down toward the fort, approaching our anchorage with ominous silence and 
deliberation. 

"The officers were by this time all gathered on the poop, looking at 
the strange craft, and hazarding all sorts of conjectures about her ; and 
when it was plain that she was coming to attack us, or to force the passage, 
we beat to quarters, the " Cumberland's " drum answering ours. 

"By a little after four bells, or two o'clock, the strange monster was 
close enough for us to make out her plating and ports ; and we tried her 
with a solid shot from one of our stern-guns, the projectile glancing off 
her forward casemate like a drop of water from a duck's back. Ths 
opened our eyes. Instantly she threw aside the screen from one of her 
forward ports, and -answered us with grape, killing and wounding quite 
a number. She then passed us, receiving our broadside and giving . one 
in return, at a distance of less than two hundred yards. Our shot had 
apparently no effect upon her, but the result of her broadside on our 
ship was simply terrible. One of her shells dismounted an eight-inch 



668 BLUE-jACKi:rs of ■Gu 



gun, and either killed or wounded every one of the gun's crew, while the 
slaughter at the other guns was fearful. There were comparatively few 
wounded, the fragments of the huge shells she threw killing outright as 
a general thing. Our clean and handsome gun-deck was in an instant 
' hanged into a slaughter-pen, with lopped-off legs and arms, and bleeding, 
blackened bodies, scattered about by the shells; while blood and brains 
actually dripped from the beams. One poor fellow had his chest transfixed 
by a splinter of oak as thick as the wrist ; but the shell-wounds were even 
worse. The quartermaster, who had first discovered the approach of the 
iron-clad, — an old man-of-war's man, named John Leroy, — was taken below 
with both legs off. The gallant fellow died in a few minutes, but cheered 
and exhorted the men to stand by the ship, almost with his last breath. 
The 'Merrimac' had, in the mean time, passed up stream; and our poor 
fellows, thinking she had had enough of it, and was for getting away, 
actually began to cheer. For many of them it was the last cheer they 
were ever to give. \Vc soon saw what her object was; for standing up 
abreast of the bow of the ' Cumberland,' and putting her helm aport, she 
ran her ram right into that vessel. The gallant frigate kept up her splen- 
did and deliberate, but ineffectual, fire, until she filled and sank, which 
she did in a very few minutes. A small freight-steamer of the quarter- 
master's department, and some tugs and boats from the camp-wharf, put 
off to rescue the survivors, who were forced to jump overboard. In spite 
of shot from the Confederate gunboats, one of which pierced the boiler of 
the freight-boat, they succeeded in saving the greater number of those 
who were in the water. Seeing the fate of the ' Cumberland,' which sank 
in very deep water, we set our topsails and jib, and slipped the chains, 
imder a sharp fire from the gunboats, which killed and wounded many. 
With the help of the sails, and the tug 'Zouave,' the ship was now run 
on the flats which make off from Newport News Point. Here the vessel 
keeled over as the tide continued to fall, leaving us only two guns which 
could be fought, — those in the stern ports. Two large steam-frigates and 
a sailing-frigate, towed by tugs, had started up from Hampton Roads to 
our assistance. They all got aground before they had achieved half the 
distance ; and it was fortunate that they did so, for they would probably 
have met the fate of the 'Cumberland,' in which case the lives of the 
twelve or thirteen hundred men comprising their crews would have been 
uselessly jeopardized. 



BLUE-jACKElS OF "61. 669 



"After the ' Merrimac ' had sunk the 'Cumberland,' she came down 
the channel and attacked us again. Taking up a position about one 
hundred and fifty yards astern of us, she deliberately raked us with eighty- 
pounder shell ; while the steamers we had so long kept up the river, and 
those which had come out with the iron-clad from Norfolk, all concentrated 
the fire of their small rifled guns upon us. At this time we lost two 
ofificers, both elderly men. One was an acting master, who was killed on the 
quarter-deck by a small rifle-bolt which struck him between the shoulders, 
and went right through him. The other was our old coast pilot, who was 
mortally wounded by a fragment of shell. We kept up as strong a fire as 
we could from our two stern-guns ; but the men were repeatedly swept 
away from them, and at last both pieces were disabled, one having the 
muzzle knocked off, and the other being dismounted. Rifles and carbines 
were also used by some of our people to try to pick off the ' Merrimac's ' 
crew when her ports were opened to fire, but of course the effect of the 
small-arms was not apparent to us. 

"It is useless to attempt to describe the condition of our decks by thi. 
tmie. No one who has not seen it can appreciate the effect of such a fire 
in a confined space. Men were being killed and maimed every minute, 
those faring best whose duty kept them on the spar deck. Just before 
our stern-guns were disabled, there were repeated calls for powder from 
them ; and, none appearing, I took a look on the berth-deck to learn the 
cause. After my eyes had become a little accustomed to the darkness, 
and the sharp smoke from burning oak, I saw that the line of cooks and 
wardroom servants stationed to pass full boxes had been raked by a shell, 
and the whole of them either killed or wounded, — a sufficient reason why 
there was a delay with the powder. (I may mention here that the officer 
who commanded our powder division was a brother of the captain of the 
'Merrimac.') The shells searched the vessel everywhere. A man pre- 
viously wounded was killed in the cock-pit where he had been taken for 
surgical aid. The deck of the cock-pit had to be kept sluiced with water 
from the pumps, to extinguish the fire from the shells, although dreadfully 
wounded men were lying on this deck, and the water was icy cold ; but 
the shell-room hatch opened out of the cock-pit, and fire must be kept out 
of there at all hazards, or the whole of us would go into the air together. 
In the wardroom and steerage, the bulkheads were all knocked down by 



670 BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 



the shells, and by the axe-men making way for the hose, forming a scene of 
perfect ruin and desolation. Clothing, books, glass, china, photographs, 
chairs, bedding, and tables were all mixed in one confused heap. Some 
time before this, our commanding officer, a fine young man, had been 
instantly killed by a fragment of shell which struck him in the chest. 
His watch, and one of his shoulder-straps (the other being gone), were 
afterwards sent safely to his father, a veteran naval officer. 

"We had now borne this fire for nearly an hour, and there was no 
prospect of assistance from any quarter, while we were being slaughtered 
without being able to return a shot. Seeing this, the officer who had 
succeeded to the command of the ship, upon consultation with our former 
captain (who was on board as a guest), ordered our flag to be struck. It is 
not a pleasant thing to Iiave to strike your flag; but I did not see then, and 
do not sec now, what else we were to do. 

" A boat now boarded us with an officer from the ' Merrimac,' who said 
he would take charge of the ship. He did nothing, however, but gaze 
about a little, and pick up a carbine and cutlass, — I presume as trophies. 
One of the small gunboats then came alongside, and the officer from the 
'Merrimac' left. The commander of the gunboat said that we must get 
out of the ship at once, as he had orders to burn her. Some of our 
people went on board of his craft as prisoners, but not many. As her 
upper deck was about even with our main-deck ports, our surgeon stepped 
out of one, and told the commanding officer that we had some dreadfully 
wounded men, and that we must have time to ccUect them, and place them 
on board his vessel, and, moreover, that our ship was on fire with no 
possibility of saving her. The reply was, ' You must make haste : those 
scoundrels on shore are firing at me now.' In fact, the rifle-balls were 
' pinging ' about very briskly, scarring the rusty black sides of the poor old 
frigate ; for the Twentieth Indiana Regiment had come down from the 
camp to the point, and opened fire on the gunboat as she lay alongside of 
us. Our doctor having no desire to be killed, especially by our own 
people, jumped back into the port, just as the steamer, finding it too hot, 
shoved off and left us. As soon as she did so, they all opened upon us 
again ; although we had a white flag flying to show we were out of action, 
and we certainly could not be held responsible for the action of the regi- 
ment on shore. After ten or fifteen minutes, however, they all withdrew. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 6;i 

and went down the channel, to bestow their attentions upon the frigate 
'.Minnesota' which was hard aground. Fortunately the 'Merrimac' drew 
too much water to come near the 'Minnesota' at that stage of tide, and 
the small-fry were soon driven off by the latter ship's battery. Night now 
approaching, the whole Rebel flotilla withdrew, and proceeded up the 
Norfolk Channel. 

" Although relieved from the pressure of actual battle, we still had the 
unpleasant consciousness that the fire was making progress in the vicinity 
of our after-magazine ; and we felt as I suppose men would feel who are 
walking in the crater of a volcano on the verge of eruption. Fortunately 
for us, the 'Merrimac' and her consorts had not fired much at our upper 
works and spars, the principal damage being inflicted upon our lower decks. 
We had, therefore, the launch and first cutter, — large boats, — which, with 
a little stuffing of shot-holes, were fit to carry us the short distance between 
our ship and the shore. The yard and stay-tackles were got up, and the 
boats put into the water, as soon as possible ; the fire gaining, and the sun 
going down, in the mean time. 

" By successive boatloads the survivors were all landed ; the launch being 
brought up under the bill port, and the wounded, in cots, lowered into her 
by a whip from the fore yard, which was braced up for the purpose. This 
boat was nearly filled with water on her last trip, being a good deal dam- 
aged; obliging some of the officers, who had stayed until the last, to jump 
overboard into the icy cold water, and lean their hands on the gunwale, so 
as to relieve the boat of a part of their weight. She grounded in water about 
waist-deep ; and the soldiers from the camp waded out and assisted our men 
in bearing on shore, and to the log hospital of the Twentieth Indiana, those 
who were in cots. V/e had managed to get the body of our gallant young 
commander on shore in one of the cots, as a wounded man. The mass of 
the men were so 'gallied,' to use a sailor phrase, by the time the action was 
over, what with enduring so severe a fire without being able to respond, and 
also with the knowledge that an explosion of the magazine might occur at 
any time, that I doubt whether they could have been induced to bring off a 
man whom they knew to be dead. The officers repeatedly went about the 
decks looking for wounded men ; and I firmly believe that all who were alive 
were brought off. Our poor old ship, deserted by all but the dead, burned 
till about midnight, when she blew up." 



672 BLUE-JACKETS OK '61. 



The final destruction of the "Congress" must have been a most imposing 
spectacle. A member of the Confederate army, who was stationed in one 
of the batteries near the scene of action, thus describes it : " Night had 
come, mild and calm, refulgent with all the beauty of Southern skies in early 
spring. The moon, in her second quarter, was just rising over the rippling 
waters; but her silvery light was soon paled by the conflagration of the 'Con- 
gress,' whose lurid glare was reflected in the river. The burning frigate 
four miles away seemed very much nearer. As the flames crept up the rig- 
ging, every mast, spar, and rope glittered against the dark sky in dazzling 
lines of fire. The hull, aground upon the shoal, was plainly visible ; and 
upon its black surface each port-hole seemed the mouth of a fiery furnace. 
For hours the flames raged, with hardly a perceptible change in the wondrous 
picture. At irregular intervals, loaded guns and shells, exploding as the 
flames reached them, sent forth their deep reverberations, re-echoed over 
and over from every headland of the bay. The masts and rigging were still 
standing, apparently intact, when about two o'clock in the morning a mon- 
■^trous sheet of flame rose from the vessel to an immense height. The ship 
ivas rent in twain by the tremendous flash. Blazing fragments seemed to 
fill the air ; and, after a long interval, a deep, deafening report announced 
the e.xplosion of the ship's powder-magazine. When the blinding glare had 
subsided, I supposed that every vestige of the vessel would have disap- 
peared ; but apparently all the force of the explosion had been upward. The 
rigging had vanished entirely, but the hull seemed hardly shattered ; the 
only apparent change in it was that in two or three places, two or three of 
the port-holes had been blown into one great gap. It continued to burn 
until the brightness of its blaze was effaced by the morning sun." 

In the great drama of the first day's fight at Hampton Roads, the heroic 
part was played by the frigate "Cumberland." On the morning of that 
fateful 8th of March, she was swinging idly at her moorings, her boats float- 
ing at the boom, and her men lounging about the deck, nex'er dreaming of 
the impending disaster. It was wash-day, and from the lower rigging of the 
ship hung garments drying in the sun. About noon the lookout saw a 
cloud of smoke, apparently coming down the river from Norfolk, and at once 
notified the ofificer of the deck. It was surmised that it might be the new 
and mysterious iron-clad " Merrimac," about which many rumors were cur- 
rent, but few facts known. Quickly the ship was set in t.un for action, and 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



the men sent to quarters. All the stern preparations for battle were made 
— the guns all shotted, the men in position, the magazines opened; shot, 
shell, cartridges, all in place; the powder-boys at their stations; swords, pis- 
tols, boarding-pikes, in the racks. Down in the cock-pit the surgeons sprea-'. 
out upon their tables the gleaming instruments, which made brave me;-, 
shudder with the thought of what a few minutes would bring. 

The sailors prepared for the fight gayly, never doubting for a mome;.c 
that victory would be on their side. So paltry had been the resistance 
liiat the Confederates had heretofore been able to oppose to the Northern 
arms, by sea, that the blue-jackets felt that they had only to open a fight 
in order to win it. The officers were more serious. Rumors had reached 
them that the " Merrimac " was a most powerful vessel, destined to annihi- 
late the navy of the North ; and they looked on this first battle with the 
monster with many misgivings. Their fears were somewhat lessened by an 
article printed in the Norfolk papers, a few days previous, denouncing the 
" Merrimac " as a bungling bit of work, absolutely unseaworthy, and unable 
to stand against the powerful vessels of the North. As it turned out, how- 
ever, this article was published as a ruse to deceive the Northern authorities. 

The iron ship came steaming sullenly down the bay. The " Congress " 
was the first ship in range, and a puff of smoke from the " Merrimac's " 
bow-gun warned the crew of the frigate that danger was coming. All 
held their breath an instant, until, with a clatter and whiz, a storm of 
grape-shot rattled against her sides, and whistled through the rigging. 
Then came a sigh of relief that it was no worse. When the enemy was 
within a quarter of a mile, the "Congress" let fly her whole broadside, 
and the crew crowded the ports to see the result. The great iron shot 
rattled off the mailed sides of the monster, like hailstones from a roof. 
Then came the return fire; and the "Congress" was riddled with shells, 
and her decks ran with blood. The " Merrimac " passed sullenly on. 

Now it was the turn of the " Cumberland." Her officers and crew 
had seen the results of the fire of the "Congress," and, with sinking hearts, 
felt how hopeless was their own position. There was no chance for escape, 
for no wind filled the sails of the frigate. She lay helpless, awaiting the 
attack of the iron battery that bore down upon her, without firing a shot 
or opening a port. At a little past two the mailed frigate had approached 
the "Cumberland" within grape-shot distance. Fire was opened upon 



674 BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 

licr with the heaviest guns; and officers and men watched breathlessly 
the course of their shot, and cried aloud with rage, or groaned in despait, 
as they saw them fall harmlessly from the iron ship. Still they had no 
thought of surrender. The fire ol thi; "Cumberland" was received silently 
by the " Merrimac ; " and she came straight on, her sharp prow cutting 
viciously through the water, and pointed straight for her victim. A 
second broadside, at point-blank range, had no effect on her. One solid 
shot was seen to strike her armored sides, and, glancing upward, fly high 
into the air, as a baseball glances from the bat of the batsman ; then, 
falling, it struck the roof of the pilot-house, and fell harmlessly into the sea. 
In another instant the iron ram crashed into the side of the "Cumberland," 
cutting through oaken timbers, decks, and cabins. At the same time all 
the guns that could be brought to bear on the Northern frigate were 
discharged ; and shells crashed through her timbers, and exploded upon 
her decks, piling splinters, guns, gun-carriages, and men in one confused 
wreck. Had not the engines of the ram been reversed just before striking 
■10 frigate, her headway would have carried her clear to the opposite 
S.Jo of the doomed ship, and the "Cumberland," in sinking, would have 
carried her destroyer to the bottom with her. As it was, the "Merrimac," 
with a powerful wrench, drew out of the wreck she had made, loosening 
her iron prow, and springing a serious leak in the operation. She drew 
off a short distance, paused to examine the work she had done, and then, 
as if satisfied, started to complete the destruction of the "Congress." 

■ And well might the men of the " Merrimac" be satisfied with their hour's 
work. The "Cumberland" was a hopeless wreck, rapidly sinking. Her 
decks were bloodstained, and covered with dead men, and scattered arms 
and legs, torn off by the exploding shells. And yet her brave crew stuck to 
their guns, and fought with cool valor, and without a vestige of confusion. 
Tiiey had had but a few moments to prepare for action ; and the long rows 
of clothes, drying in the rigging, told how peaceful had been their occupa- 
tion before the " Merrimac " appeared upon the scene. Yet now that the 
storm of battle had burst, and its issue was clearly against them, these men 
stood to their guns, although they could feel the deck sinking beneath them. 
Every man was at his post ; and even when the waters were pouring in on 
the gun-deck, the guns were loaded and fired. Indeed, the last shot was 
fired from a gun half buried in the waves. Then the grand old frigate set- 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 675 

tied down to the bottom, cairyinj," lalf her crew with her, but keeping the 
stars and stripes still floating at the fure. 

The destruction of the "Cumberland" being completed, the "Merrimac" 
steamed over to the "Congress." This frigate fought vyell and valorously, 
but was soon pounded into a helpless condition by the shells of the " Merri- 
mac," as shown by the story of her officer, already quoted. When a white 
flag, floating at her peak, told of surrender, the " Merrimac " left her to the 
attention of the smaller vessels in the Confederate flotilla, and set ou'' to find 
further victims. But by this time the remainder of the Federal fleet had 
taken alarm, and fled into a safe position under the shelter of the Federal 
batteries on shore. The "Minnesota" only had been unfortunate in her 
attempted flight, and was aground on a bar near the scene of the fight. But 
now only two hours of daylight remained, and the tide was low, and still on 
the ebb. The heavy iron frigate could not get within effective distance 
of the " Minnesota," her crew were weary with a day's fighting, and so she 
turned away and headed up the river for Norfolk. 

In taking account of injuries on the ram that night, it was found that tV ■ 
injured numbered twenty-one; many of whom had been shot while alongsic.e 
the surrendered "Congress." Not an atom of damage was done to the 
interior of the vessel, and her armor showed hardly a trace of the terrible test 
through which it had passed. But nothing outside had escaped : the muz- 
zles of two guns had been shot off ; the ram was wrenched away in with- 
drawing from the "Cumberland ;" one anchor, the smoke-stack, steam-pipe, 
railings, flag-staff, boat-davitts — all were swept away as though a hugh mow- 
ing-machine had passed over the deck. But, so far as her fighting qualities 
were concerned, the " Merrimac " was as powerful as when she started out 
from Norfolk on that bright spring morning. 

It can easily be understood that the news of the engagement caused the 
most intense excitement throughout this country, and indeed throughout the 
whole world. In the South, all was rejoicing over this signal success of 
the Confederate ship. Bells were rung, and jubilees held, in all the 
Southern cities. An officer of the " Merrimac," who was despatched 
post-haste to Richmond with reports of the engagement, was met at 
every station by excited crowds, who demanded that he tell the story 
of the fight over and over again. At last the starving people of the Con- 
federacy saw the way clear for the sweeping away of the remorseless 
blockade. 



676 BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 



In the North, the excitement was that of fear. The people of seaboard 
cities imagined every moment the irresistible iron ship steaming into their 
harbors, and mowing down their buildings with her terrible shells. The 
Secretary of War.said, at a hastily called cabinet meeting in Washington : 
'• The ' Merrimac ' will change the whole character of the war : she will 
destroy every naval vessel ; she will lay all the seaboard cities under con- 
tribution. Not unlikely we may have a shell or cannon-ball from one of 
her guns, in the White House, before we leave this room." 

In this excited state, wild with joy, or harassed with fear, the whole 
country went to sleep that March night, little dreaming that the morrow 
would change the whole face of the naval situation, and that even then a 
little untried vessel was steaming, unheralded, toward Hampton Roads, 
there to meet the dreaded "Merrimac," and save the remnants of the 
Federal fleet. Then no one knew of the " Monitor ; " but twenty-four hours 
later her name, and that of her inventor Ericsson, were household words in 
all the States of the Union and the Confederacy. 

Capt. John Ericsson was a Swedish engineer, residing in this country, 
who had won a name for himself by inventing the screw-propeller as a 
means of propulsion for steamships. He and a Connecticut capitalist, C. S. 
Bushnell by name, had ever since the opening of the war been trying to 
induce the Government to build some iron-clads after a pattern designed by 
Ericsson, and which afterwards became known as the "monitor" pattern. 
Their labors at Washington met with little success. After a long explana- 
tion of the plan before the wise authorities of the Naval Board, Capt. 
Ericsson was calmly dismissed with the remark, "It resembles nothing in 
the heavens above, or the earth beneath, or the waters under the eartli. 
You can take it home, and worship it without violating any Commandment." 
Finally, however, leave was obtained to build a monitor for the Govern- 
ment, provided the builders would take all financial risks in case it proved 
a failure. So, with this grudging permission, the work of building the war- 
ship that was destined to save the Federal navy was begun. Work was 
prosecuted night and day, and in one hundred days the vessel was ready 
for launching. Great was the discussion over her. Distinguished engineers 
predicted that she would never float; and many attended the launch expect- 
ing to see the vessel plunge from the ways to the bottom of the river, 
like a turtle from a log. So general was this opinion, that boats were 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. ^T< 



in readiness to rescue her passengers if she went down. liut Capt. 
Ericsson's plans were well laid. The great vessel glided with a graceful 
dip into the river, and floated at her cables buoyantly. She was a strange- 
looking craft. All that was to be seen of her above water was a low deck 
about a foot above the water, bearing in the centre a large round iron 
turret pierced with two great port-holes. Besides the turret, the smooth 
surface of the deck was broken by two other elevations, — a small iron pilot- 
house forward, made of iron plates about ten inches thick, and with iron 
gratings in front ; aft of the turret was a low smoke-stack. Beneath the 
water-line this vessel had some strange features. The upper part of 
her hull, forming the deck, projected beyond her hull proper about four 
feet on every side. This projection was known as the " overhang," and 
was designed as a protection against rams. It was made of white oak and 
iron, and was impenetrable by any cannon of that day ; although now, wheji 
steel rifled cannon are built that will send a ball through twenty inches of 
wrought iron, the original "Monitor" would be a very weak vessel. 

The turret in this little vessel, which held the two guns that she 
mounted, was so arranged as to revolve on a central pivot, thus enabling the 
gunners to keep their guns continually pointed at the enemy, whatever 
might be the position of the vessel. When the time for the first battle 
actually arrived, it was found that the turret would not revolve properly ; 
but in later ships of the same class this trouble was avoided. 

It was at two o'clock on the morning after the day on wliich the 
" Merrimac " had wrought such iiavoc among the ships of the North, tl'.at 
this queer-looking little vessel steamed into Hampton Roads. As the 
gray dawn began to break, she passed under the quarter of the " Min- 
nesota," and cast anchor. The tars on the great frigate looked curiously at 
the strange craft, and wondered if that insignificant " cheese-bo.v on a 
raft" was going to do battle with the dreaded "Merrimac." Small hop^.s 
had they that their noble frigate would be saved by any such pygmy 
war-ship. 

In the mean time, the men of the "Merrimac" up at Norfolk were 
working energetically to prepare her for the destruction of the rest of the 
Union ships. Her ram was tightened in its place, her steering apparatus 
overhauled, and some changes made, and her rickety engine was patched 
up. At daybreak all was bustle as the ram prepared to move down on the 



6-j9, BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



Union fleet. But just as she was about to start, lier officers saw the queer 
craft lying by the "Minnesota," which they at once knew to be the 
ICricsson "Monitor." Her appearance was not very terrible; but, neverthe- 
less, the Confederates felt that she had appeared at a most inopportune 
moment for them. Still they raised anchor, and started down the bay to 
meet their mysterious enemy. 

It was Sunday morning, and the sun rose in a cloudless blue sky. A 
light breeze stirred the surface of the water, and played lazily with the long 
streaming pennants of the men-of-war. The batteries on both sides of tlic 
bay were crowded with men waiting for the great naval battle of the d:\y. 
Up at Norfolk a gay holiday party was embarking on steam-tugs, to accom- 
pany the Confederate ship and witness the total destruction of the Union 
fleet. No thought of defeat ever entered the minds of the proud believers 
in the new iron-clad of the Confederacy. 

At the first sign of life on board the " Merrimac," the "Monitor" began 
her preparations for the battle. In fifteen minutes she was in battle trim. 
The iron hatches were closed, the dead-light covers put on, and obstructions 
removed from the main deck, so as to present a smooth surface only twenty- 
four inches above the water, unbroken, save by the turret and pilot-house. 
In the pilot-house was Lieut. Worden, who was to command the "Monitor" 
in this her first battle. 

Leisurely the " Merrimac " came down the bay, followed by her attend 
ant tugs ; and, as she came within range, she opened fire on the " Minnesota," 
which was still aground. Tiie frigate resi)onded with a mighty broadside, 
which, however, rattled off the mailed sides of the ram like so many peas. 
Clearly, every thing depended upon the "Monitor;" and that little craft 
steamed boldly out from behind the "Minnesota," and sent two huge iron 
balls, weighing one hundred and seventy pounds each, against the side of 
the "Merrimac." The shot produced no effect beyond showing the men 
of the " Merrimac " that they had met a foeman worthy of their steel. The 
" Merrimac" slowed up her engines, as though to survey the strange antago- 
nist thus braving her power. The "Monitor" soon came up, and a cautious 
fight began ; each vessel sailing round the other, advancing, backing, making 
quick dashes here and there, like two pugilists sparring for an opening. The 
two shots of the " Monitor " would come banging one after the other against 
the "Merrimac's" armor, like the "one, two" of a skilled boxer. In this 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 679 

dancing battle the "Monitor" had an enormous advantage, on account of 
her size, greater speed, and the way in which she answered her helm. The 
"Merrimac" was like a huge hawk being chased and baited by a little spar- 
row. Her heavy broadsides found nothing to hit in the almost submerged 
hull of the " Monitor." When a ball struck the turret, it glanced off, unless 
striking fair in the centre, when it fell in fragments, doing no greater dam- 
age than to dent the iron plates, and sometimes knocking down the men at 
the guns inside. The first manoeuvre tried by the " Merrimac " was to run 
down her little antagonist ; and she did strike her with a force that dented 
the iron overhang of the " Monitor," and dashed the men in the "Merrimac " 
to the deck, with blood streaming from their nostrils. For a moment it 
seemed as though the "Monitor" must go under; but gradually the terrible 
ram glanced off, and the little vessel, righting, sent again her terrible two 
shots at her enemy. In the action of the day before, shot and shell had 
beaten against the sides of the ram so rapidly that one could not count the 
concussions. Now it was a series of tremendous blows about a minute apart ; 
and, if the men had not been working away at their guns, they could ha\c 
heard the oak timbers splintering behind the iron plating. At a critical 
moment in the fight the "Merrimac" ran aground; and the "Monitor" 
steamed around her several times, seeking for weak places in which to plant 
a shot. Once Worden dashed at his adversary's screw, hoping to disable it, 
but missed by perhaps two feet. Two shots from the "Monitor" struck the 
muzzles of two cannon protruding from the port-holes of the " Merrimac," 
and broke them off, throwing huge splinters of iron among the gunners 
inside. And so the battle continued until about noon : gun answered gun 
with thunderous reports, that echoed back from the batteries on shore in 
rolling reverberations. The pleasure-seeking tugs from Norfolk had scut- 
tled back again out of the way of the great cannon-balls that were skipping 
along the water in every direction. Neither of the combatants had received 
any serious injury. On board the "Monitor" the only hurt was received by 
a gunner, who was leaning against the iron wall of the turret just as a shot 
struck outside; he was carried below, disabled. But at last one lucky shot 
fired from one of the disabled guns of the " Merrimac " ended this gigantic 
contest ; sending each contestant to her moorings, without an actual victory 
for either side. This shot struck full and fair against the gratings of the 
pilot-house, through which Lieut. Worden was looking as he directed the 



68o BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



course of his ship. The concussion knocked him senseless. Flakes of iron 
and powder were driven into his eyes and face, blinding him completely for 
the time. He fell back from the wheel, and the " Monitor " was left for a 
moment without her guiding spirit. All was confusion; but in a few mo- 
ments Worden recovered, and gave the order to sheer off. The " Monitor" 
then drew away, while Worden was moved to the cabin, and the second ofifi- 
cer sent to his station in the turret. Lying on a sofa in the cabin, his eyes 
bandaged, and the horror of life-long blindness upon him, Worden asked 
faintly, " Have I saved the 'Minnesota'.''" — "Yes," answered the surgeon. 
"Then," said he, "I die happy." 

While these scenes were transpiring on the "Monitor," the "Merrimac" 
lay quietly awaiting her return. The Confederate officers say that she 
waited an hour, and then, concluding that the " Monitor " had abandoned 
the fight, withdrew to Norfolk. The Northern officers and historians say 
that the " Merrimac " was in full retreat when the decisive shot was fired. 
It is hard to decide, from such conflicting statements, to which side the 
victory belonged. Certain it is, that not a man on the " Merrimac " was 
injured, and that all damages she sustained in the fight were remedied 
before sunrise the next day. Later, as we shall see, she challenged the 
Union fleet to a new battle, without response. But with all these facts 
in view, it must be borne in mind that the purpose of the " Merrimac," that 
bright March Sunday, was to destroy the frigate " Minnesota : " in that 
purpose she was foiled by the " Monitor," and to that extent at least 
the " Monitor " was the victor. 

Lieut. Worden, after the fight, went directly to Washington. Presi- 
dent Lincoln was at a cabinet meeting when he heard of Worden's arrival 
in the city, and hastily rising said, " Gentlemen, I must go to tliat fellow." 
Worden was lying on a sofa, his head swathed in bandages, when the 
President entered. "Mr. President," said he, "you do me great honor 
by this visit." — " Sir," replied Mr. Lincoln, while the tears ran down his 
cheeks, " I am the one who is honored in this interview." 

Among his crew Worden was very much beloved. The following 
letter, sent him while on a bed of pain, is all the more touching for the 
rude form in which their affection for their commander is expressed : — 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 68 1 

TO CAPTAIN WORDEN. 

Hampton Roads, April 24, 1S62. 

United States Monitor. 

To OUR Dear and Honored Captain. 

Dear Sir, — These few lines is from your own crew of the Monitor, with their 
kindest Love to you their Honored Captain, hoping to God that they will liave the 
pleasure of welcoming you back to us again soon, for we are all ready able and 
willing to meet Death or any thing else, only give us back our Captain again. Dear 
Captain, we have got your Pilot-house fixed and all ready for you when you get well 
again ; and we all sincerely hope that soon we will have the pleasure of welcoming 
you back to it. . . . We are waiting very patiently to engage our Antagonist if we 
could only get a chance to do so. Tiie last time she came out we all thought we 
would have the Pleasure of sinking her. But we all got disappointed, for we did not 
fire one shot, and the Norfolk papers says we are cowards in the Monitor — and all 
we want is a chance to show them where it lies with you for our Captain We can teach 
them who is cowards. But there is a great deal that we would like to write to you but 
we think you will soon be with us again yourself. But we all join in with our kindest 
love to you, hoping that God will restore you to us again and hoping that your suffer- 
ings is at an end now, and we are all so glad to hear that your eyesight will be spaircd 
to you again. We would wish to write more to you if we have your kind Permission 
to do so but at present we all conclude by tendering to you our kindest Love and 
affection, to our Dear and Honored Captain. 

We remain untill Death your Affectionate Crew 

THE MONITOR BOYS. 



The " Mcrrimac," after being repaired and altered to some e.\tcnt, 
sailed down the bay on the nth of April, for the purpose, as her ofificers 
said, of meeting the "Monitor" again. She steamed into the Roads, and 
exchanged a few shots with the Union batteries at the rip-raps ; but the 
"Monitor," and other Union vessels, remained below Fortress Monroe, 
in Chesapeake Bay, out of the reach of the Confederate vessel. Again, 
a few days later, the "Merrimac" went to Hampton Roads, and tried to 
lure the " Monitor" to battle ; but again the challenge passed unanswered. 
It is probable that the Federal naval authorities did not care to imperil 
the only vessel that stood between them and destruction, out of mere 
bravado. Had the " Monitor " come out, an attempt would have been 



682 BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 

made to carry her by boarding. The crew of the " Merrimac " were 
prepared for the attack ; and four gunboats accompanying her were crowded 
with men, divided into squads, each with its specified duty. Some were 
to try and wedge the turret, some were to cover the pilot-house and all 
tlic openings with tarpaulin, others were to try to throw shells and gun- 
powder down the smoke-stack. But all these preparations proved useless, 
as the " Monitor " still remained quietly at her anchorage. On May 8 a 
third trip was made by the "Merrimac." When she came down the bay, 
she found the Union fleet, including the "Monitor," hard at work shelling 
the Confederate batteries at Sewall's Point. As she came towards them, 
they ceased their cannonade, and retired again to the shelter of Fortress 
Monroe. The " Merrimac " steamed up and down the Roads for some 
hours ; and finally Commodore Tatnall, in deep disgust, gave the order, 
"Mr. Jones, fire a gun to windward, and take the ship back to her buoy." 

Back to Norfolk she went, never again to leave that harbor. On the 
9th of May the officers of the " Merrimac " noticed that the Confederate 
flag was no longer floating over the shore-batteries. A reconnoissance 
proved that the land forces had abandoned Norfolk, and it was necessary 
to get the ship away before the Union troops arrived and hemmed her in. 
Her pilots declared that if the ship was lightened they could take her up 
the James River ; and accordingly all hands threw overboard ballast and 
trappings, until she was lightened three feet. Then the pilots claimed that 
with the prevalent wind they could not handle her. It was now useless to 
try to run her through the Union fleet, for the lightening process had 
exposed three feet of her unarmed hull to the fire of the enemy. It was 
accordingly determined that she should be destroyed. She was run ashore 
on Craney Island, and trains of powder laid all over her, and fired. Every 
gun was loaded, and the doors of the magazine were left open. Her crew 
then started on the march for the interior. It was just in the gray of the 
morning that a rumbling of the earth was felt, followed by a shock that 
made all stagger. A column of smoke and flame shot into the air ; huge 
cannon were hurled high above the tree-tops, discharging in mid-air. One 
shot fell in the woods some distance ahead of the marching crew, and all 
knew that it marked the end of the mighty " Merrimac." 




CHAPTER X. 



THE NAVY IN THE INLAND WATERS.— THE MISSISSIPPI SQUADRON. — SWEEPING THE 
TENNESSEE RIVER. 



VT?!^/"! ^ ^^''^ "°^^ leave for a time the blue-water sailors, whose battles, 
triumphs, and defeats we have been considering, and look at the 
work done by the tars of both North and South on the great 
waterways which cut up the central portion of the United States, 
known as the Valley of the Mississip[)i. It was in this section that the 
navy of the North did some of its most effective work against the Con- 
federacy, and it was there that the sailor boys of the South did many deeds 
of the most desperate valor. There is much of romance about service on 
the blue ocean which is not to be found in routine duty along the yellow 
muddy streams that flowed through the territory claimed by King Cotton. 
The high, tapering masts, the yards squared and gracefully proportioned, 
the rigging taut, and with each rope in its place, of an ocean-frigate, are not 
seen in the squat, box-like gunboats that dashed by the batteries at Vicks- 
burg, or hurled shot and shell at each other in the affair at Memphis. But 
Farragut, stanch old sea-dug as he was, did much of his grandest fighting 
on the turbid waters of the Mississippi; and the work of the great fleet 
at Port Royal was fully equalled by Porter's mortar-boats below New 
Orleans. 

68; 



684 DLUE-JACKETS OF 'ei. 



Let us follow the fortunes of the Union fleet on their cruises about the 
great rivers of the interior, and first discover what the work was that they 
set out to perform. 

The rivers making up the Mississippi system flow for the greater part 
of their length through the States that had joined the new Confederacy. 
The northern Confederate battle-line was along the south bank of the 
Ohio River, and there they had erected batteries that controlled the 
passage of that river. South of the mouth of the Ohio, every river was 
lined with Confederate batteries, and bore on its placid bosom fleets of 
Confederate gunboats. At Columbus on the Mississippi, not far south 
of the mouth of the Ohio, were strong batteries over which floated the stars 
and bars of the Confederacy. Farther down was Island Number lo, bear- 
ing one of the most powerful fortifications the world has ever seen. Then 
came Fort Pillow, guarding the city of Memphis ; then at Vicksburg 
frowned earthworks, bastions, and escarpments that rivalled Gibraltar for 
impregnability. Lower down were fortifications at Grand Gulf, Port 
Hudson, and Baton Rouge. Fort Henry guarded the Tennessee River 
and Fort Donelson the Cumberland, and both of these rivers were very 
important as waterways for the transportation of supplies to the Union 
armies marching into Tennessee. It was absolutely necessary that all 
these fortifications should be swept away, and the rivers opened for naviga- 
tion down to the Gulf of Mexico. It was necessary that the work should 
be done from above ; for the forts below New Orleans were thought to be 
impassible, and Farragut's passage of them late in the war made all the 
world ring with his name. 

It became evident, very early in the war, that no great progress could 
be made in the task of crushing the powerful insurrection until telling 
blows had been struck at the Confederate control of the inland waterways. 
When the attention of the war department was turned in that direction. 
they found but little to encourage them in the prospect. Along the 
thousands of miles of the banks of the Mississippi and its tributaries, 
there was not one gun mounted belonging to the United States, not 
one earthwork over which floated the starry flag of the Union. The 
Confederate positions on this great chain of waterways were, as we have 
seen, of great strength. To attack them, the armies of the North must first 
fight their way through whole States populated by enemies. Obviously, 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 685 



Uic war department alone could not complete so gigantic a task, and 
the services of the navy were called into requisition. So energetically 
did the navy department prosecute its task, that, by the end of the war, 
over one hundred Federal war-vessels floated on those streams, on which, 
three years before, no craft dared sail under the American flag. It was 
a strange navy in looks, but in actions it showed itself worthy of the 
service in which it was enlisted. 

Many of the steamers built for the river marine were wooden gunboats, 
hastily remodelled from the hulks of old craft. They were seldom plated 
with iron, and their machinery was feebly protected by coal bunkers, 
while their oaken sides were barely thick enough to stop a musket-ball. 
But the true iron-clad war-vessel made its appearance on the rivers even 
before it was to be seen in the ocean squadrons. 

It was as early in the war as July, 1861, that the quartermaster-general 
advertised for bids for the construction of iron-clad gunboats for service 
on the Mississippi and tributary rivers. The contract was given to James 
B. Eads, an engineer, who during the war performed much valuable service 
for the United States Government, and who in later years has made 
himself a world-wide fame by the construction of the jetties at the mouth 
of the Mississippi River, by which the bar at the mouth of the great stream 
is swept away by the mighty rush of the pent-up waters. Mr. Eads was 
instructed to build seven iron-clad gunboats with all possible expedition. 
They were to be plated two and a half inches thick, and, though of six 
hundred tons burden, were not to draw more than six feet of water. They 
were to carry thirteen heavy guns each. 

These river-gunboats, like the little "Monitor," had none of the grace 
and grandeur of the old style of sailing-frigate, in which Paul Jones fought 
so well for his country. The tapering masts of the mighty frigate, the 
spideiy cordage by which the blue-jackets climbed to loosen the snowy 
sheets of canvas — these gave way in the gunboat to a single slender 
P.agstuff for signalling, and two towering smoke-stacks anchored to the 
deck by heavy iron cables, and belching forth the black smoke from roaring 
fires of pitch-pine or soft coal. Instead of the gracefully curved black 
sides, with two rows of ports, from which peeped the muzzles of great 
cannon, the gunboat's sides above water sloped like the roof of a house, 
and huge iion shutters hid the cannon from view. Inside, all was dark 



686 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 



and stuffy, making battle-lanterns necessary even in daylight fights. The 
broad white gundcck, scrubbed to a gleaming white by hollystone and 
limejuicc, on which the salt-water sailors gathered for their mess or drill. 



'!,\ 



M 



.ilHliP 







was replaced by a cramped room, with the roof hardly high enough to 
let the jolly tars skylark beneath without banging their skulls against 
some projecting beam. Truly it may be said, that, if the great civil war 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6x. 687 



made naval architecture more powerful, it also robbed the war-vessels 
of all their beauty. 

It is hard to appreciate now the immense difficulty experienced in 
getting those first seven river-gunboats built by the appointed time. The 
war had just begun, and a people accustomed to peace had not yet found 
out that those not actually at the seat of war could continue their usual 
course of life unmolested. Rolling-mills, machine-shops, founderies, saw- 
mills, and shipyards were all idle. Working-men were enlisting, or going 
to the Far West, away from the storm of war that was expected to sweep up 
the Mississippi Valley. The timber for the ships was still standing in the 
forests. The engines that were to drive the vessels against the enemy 
were yet to be built. Capt. Eads's contract called for the completion of the 
seven vessels in sixty-five days, and he went at his work with a will. His 
success showed that not all the great services done for a nation in time of 
war come from the army or navy. Within two weeks four thousand men 
were at work getting the gunboats ready. Some were in Michigan felling 
timber, some in the founderies and machine-shops of Pittsburg, and others 
in the shipyards at St. Louis, where the hulls of the vessels were on the 
stocks. Day and night, week-days and Sundays, the work went on ; and in 
forty-five days the first vessel was completed, and christened the "St. 
Louis." The others followed within the apjiointed time. Before the 
autumn of 1861, the river navy of the United States numbered nearly a 
score of vessels, while nearly forty mortar-boats were in process of con- 
struction. Of this flotilla, Capt. A. H. Foote, an able naval officer, was 
put in command, and directed to co-operate with the land forces in all 
movements. 

The first service to which the gunboats were assigned was mainly 
reconnoitring expeditions before the front of the advancing Union armies. 
They were stationed at the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers ; 
and the country about Cairo was occupietl by a large body of Union 
troops under the command of Gen. Grant, then a young officer little known. 
The opening fight of the river campaign was little more than a skirmish ; 
but it proved the superiority of the gunboats over a land-force for the 
jHirpose of opening the river. One bright day in September, the "Lexing- 
ton " and "Concstoga" were ordered to proceed down the river eight or 
ten miles, and dislodge a Confederate battery that had taken a position on 



688 BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



Lucas Point. The two vessels steamed cautiously down the stream, without 
encountering any resistance until within easy range of the battery, when 
the Confederates opened with sixteen cannon. The shot and shells fell all 
about the vessels ; but neither was hit, showing that the Confederate 
gunners were not yet used to firing at a moving mark. But the fire of the 
gimboats was admirably directed ; the shells falling among the Confederates, 
dismounting the guns, and driving the gunners from their pieces. It was 
too hot a spot for any man to hold ; and a cavalry corps quickly attached 
their horses to the guns, and drew them down the river to the shelter of 
the Confederate works at Columbus. Then the defeated party sent up the 
gunboat " Yankee " to attack the two victors, but this vessel was quickly 
disposed of. She opened fire at long range, but without success. The first 
shot from the "Conestoga" struck the water a few feet from the "Yankee," 
and, ricochetting, plunged into her hull. The discomfited vessel imme- 
diately put about, and started down stream, followed by a heavy fire from 
the two Northern ships. Just as she was passing out of range, an eight- 
inch shell from the "Lexington" struck her starboard wheel-house, and 
shattered the paddle-wheel, totally disabling the vessel, so that she drifted 
sidelong to her anchorage like a wounded duck. 

On the return of the Northern vessels up the river, they first encoun- 
tered the form of warfare that proved the most perilous for the sailors of 
the river navy. Confederate sharp-shooters lined the banks, perched in 
the trees, or hidden in the long, marshy grass ; and any unwary tar who 
showed his head above the bulwarks was made a target for several long 
rifles in the hands of practised shots. 

The ne.xt active service performed by the gunboats was at the battle of 
Belmont, directly opposite the Confederate batteries at Columbus. The 
Union troops, landing in force, had driven the Confederates from their 
camp, and were engaged in securing the spoils, when the gunners at 
Columbus, seeing that the camp was in the hands of the enemy, turned 
their heavy guns on it, and soon drove out the Yankees. The Confederates 
had rallied in the woods, and now came pouring out, in the hope of cutting 
off the Union retreat to the boats. On all sides the dark gray columns 
could be seen marching out of the woods, and pouring down upon the 
retreating army of the North. Batteries were wheeling into position, and 
staff-officers in travelling carriages were dashing to and fro carrying orders. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 689 

It seemed a black day for the three or four thousand Unionists who were 
making for their transports with all possible speed. But now was the time 
for the gunboats to take a hand in the fight. Three of them dropped into 
position, and began a deadly fire upon the Confederate line. The huge 
shells ploughed their way through whole platoons of men. Bursting, they 
would mow down soldiers like saplings before a cyclone. One shell 
exploded directly beneath an ofificers' carriage, and threw horses, carriage, 
and men high in the air. The Confederates hastened to get their field- 
batteries mto iX)sition, and replied to the deadly fire from the ships, but to 
no avail. Their light artillery was of no effect upon the plated sides of the 
gunboats, and they saw their cannon dismounted or shattered by the solid 
shot from the big guns of the iron-clads. They fought bravely, but the 
conflict was unequal. It was sheer madness for any body of men, with 
muskets and light artillery, to stand against the fire of the gunboats. The 
gunboats saved the day. The retreat of the Union army was unchecked ; 
and, covered by the war-vessels, the transports returned safely to Cairo. 

On the Tennessee River, near the northern boundary of Tennessee, 
the Confederates had thrown up certain earthworks to which they gave the 
name of Fort Henry. This, with Fort Donelson, situated near by, formed 
the principal Confederate strongholds in Tennessee. Gen. Grant deter- 
mined to strike a heavy blow by capturing these two forts ; and Commodore 
Foote, with his seven gunboats, was ordered to co-operate with the land- 
forces in the expedition. They started from Cairo on Feb. 2, 1862. 
W'iien a few miles below the fort, the troops were landed and ordered 
to proceed up the back country, and attack the fort in the rear, while 
Foote should engage it from the river with his gunboats. While the 
troops were being landed. Gen. Grant boarded the " Esse.x," and went 
up the river to get a view of the fort they were about to attack. Had 
it been completed in accordance with the jilans of the engineers, it would 
have been most formidable. Time, however, had been short, and the 
earthworks were far from being completed. There were many points 
on the river or on the opposite bank, from which a well-directed artillery 
fire would make them untenable. The Confederate commander. Gen. Tilgh- 
man, fully appreciated this fact, and, at the approach of the gunboats, 
had sent four-fifths of his garrison across the country to Fort Donelson, 

being determined to sacrifice as few men as possible in the defence of 
2i 



.690 BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 



so untenable a position. While Grant and Foote were examining the works 
through their field-glasses, the sullen boom of a great gun came over tlie 
waters, and a heavy rifled shot crashed through the stateroom of Capt. 
Porter on the " Essex." The two commanders concluded that the Confed- 
erate gunners, though new to war, understood something of artillery practice ; 
and the "Essex" was accordingly taken down the river, out of range. 

The following night was chill and rainy ; and the Union forces, 
bivouacking on shore, grumbled loudly over their discomforts. The 
morning dawned dark ; but soon the sun came out, and the preparations 
for battle were begun. The troops were first despatched on their cross- 
country march ; and, as they departed. Commodore Foote remarked coolly, 
that his gunboats would have reduced the fort before the land forces came 
within five miles of it. This proved to be the fact. 

The gunboats formed in line of battle, and advanced up the river. 
The four iron-clads led, steaming abreast. About a mile in the rear, 
came the three wooden vessels. The fort was soon in range ; but both 
parties seemed anxious for a determined conflict, and no shot was fired 
on either side as the gunboats came sullenly on. How different must 
have been the feelings of the two combatants ! Tilghman, with liis handful 
of men, hardly able to work eight of the eleven guns mounted in his fort, 
and knowing that his defeat was a mere question of time ; Foote, with 
his iron-clads and supporting gunboats, his seventy-two guns, and his 
knowledge that six thousand men were marching upon the rear of the 
Confederate works. On the one side, all was absolute certainty of defeat ; 
on the other, calm confidence of victory. 

When the flotilla was within a third of a mile of the fort, the fire 
began. The gunners on the ships could see the muzzles of the Confederate 
guns, the piles of shells and cannon-balls, and the men at their work. The 
firing on both sides was deliberate and deadly. The Confederates were 
new to the work, but they proved themselves good marksmen. The first 
shot was fired from the shore, and, missing the "Essex" by but a few 
feet, plum|->ed into the water, so near the next ship in line as to throw 
water over her decks. Within five minutes, the "Essex" and the "Cincin- 
nati " were both hit. The armor of the gunboats proved no match for 
the shots of the Confederates, and in many cases it was penetrated. In 
some instances, shells, entering through the port-holes, did deadly damage. 



BLUE-JACKEl'S UF '6i. 



691 



On the shore, the shells from the gunboats were doing terrible work. 
Banks of solid earth, eight feet thick, were blown away by the terrible 
explosions. One, bursting in front of a ten-inch columbiad, filled that 
powerful gun with mud almost to the muzzle, disabling it for the remainder 
of the fight. A shot from the " Essex " struck the muzzle of a great gun, 
ripped off a splinter of iron three feet long, and crushed a gunner to pulp. 
The gun was just about to be fired, and burst, killing or wounding every 
man of the crew. At the same moment a shell crashed through the side 
of the " Essex," killing men right and left : took off the head of a sailor 
standing by Capt. Porter, wounded the captain, and plunged into the 
boiler. In an instant the ship was filled with scalding steam. The men 
in the pilot-house were suffocated. Twenty men and officers were killed 
or scalded. The ship was disabled, and drifted out of the fight. While 
withdrawing, she received two more shots, making twenty in all that had 
fallen to her share in this hot engagement. But by this time the fort was 
very thoroughly knocked to pieces. The big twenty-four pounder was 
dismounted, and five of its crew killed. Gun after gun was keeled over, 
and man after man carried bleeding to the bomb-proofs, until Gen. Tilgh- 
man himself dropped coat and sword, and pulled away at a gun by the 
side of his soldiers. Receiving ten shots while they could only fire one, 
this little band held out for two long hours ; and only when the crew 
of the last remaining piece threw themselves exhausted on the ground, did 
the flag come fluttering down. Gen. Tilghman went to the fleet and 
surrendered the fort to Commodore Foote, and Grant's army came up more 
than an hour after the battle was over. To the navy belongs the honor 
of taking Fort Henry, while to Gen. Tilghman and his plucky soldiers 
belongs the honor of making one of the most desperate fights under the 
most unfavorable circumstances recorded in the history of the civil war. 

The fall of Fort Henry opened the way for the Union advance to Fort 
Donelson, and marked the first step of the United States Government 
toward regaining control of the Mississippi. It broke the northern battle- 
line of the Confederacy, and never again was that line re-established. 

With Fort Henry fallen, and Gen. Tilghman and his little garrison 
prisoners on the Union gunboats. Grant's soldier-boys and Foote's blue- 
jackets began active preparations for continuing the conquest of Tennessee 
by the capture of Fort Donelson. No time was lost. The very night that 



692 BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 

the stars and stripes were first hoisted over the bastion of Fort Henry saw 
three of Foote's gunboats steaming up the river on a reconnoitring expedi- 
tion. Before them the Confederates fled in ever)' direction. After several 
hours' advance, they came to a heavy railroad-bridge spanning the river, 
and effectually preventing further progress. Beyond the bridge were 
several Confederate steamers, black with men, and heavily laden with 
valuable military stores. With all steam on, they were dashing up stream, 
and rapidly leaving the gunboats behind. Enraged at seeing such valuable 
prizes slipping through their hands, the Union gunners sent shell after 
shell shrieking after the flying boats, but to no avail. A party was hastih 
landed for the purpose of swinging the draw of the bridge, but found the 
machinery broken, and the ways on which the bridge swung twisted and 
bent out of shape. An hour's hard work with a.xes and crowbars, and 
tlie draw was swung far enough to let pass the " Conestoga " and the 
" Lexington." They dashed forward like greyhounds slipped from the 
leash ; and, after several hours' hard steaming, a smoke over the tree-tops 
told that the Confederate fugitives were not far ahead. Soon a bend in the 
river was passed; and there, within easy range, were two of the flying 
steamers. A commotion was visible on board, and boat after boat was 
seen to put off, and make for the shore ; on reaching which the crews 
immediately plunged into the woods, and were out of sight before the 
gunboats could get within range. Soon light blue smoke curling from the 
windows of the steamers told that they had been fired ; and as the last 
boats left each vessel, she ceased her onward course, and drifted, abandoned 
and helpless, down the stream. When within about a thousand yards of the 
two gunboats, the deserted steamers blew up with such force, that, even at 
that great distance, the glass was shattered in the "Conestoga," and her 
woodwork seriously damaged. 

The two gunboats leisurely continued their excursion into the heart of 
the enemy's country. Little or no danger was to be feared. At that time, 
the Confederates had not learned to plant torpedoes in their rivers, to 
blow the enemy's vessels into fragments. There was no artillery stationed 
in that section to check their progress, and the only resistance found was 
an occasional rifle-shot from some concealed sharp-shooter in the bushes 
on the shore. On the 7th of February the gimboats reached Cerro 
Gordo, Tenn. ; and here they made a valuable capture. The Confederates 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 693 



had been at work for weeks converting the steamer " Eastport " into an 
iron-clad ram ; and, as the Union vessels came up, they found her almost 
completed, and absolutely without defence. Besides the new vessel, there 
was in the shipyard a large quantity of lumber and ship-timber, which was 
of the greatest value to the builders of the river navy. The two gun- 
boats promptly captured all this property; and waiting until the "Tyler," 
which had been detained at the drawbridge, came up, they left her in 
charge, and continued their raid into the enemy's country. Little incident 
occurred until they reached the head of navigation of the river, where 
they found all the Confederate vessels which had been flying before them 
for two days. These were burned, and the two gunboats started back down 
the river, stopping for the " Eastport " on the way. The capti/.red vessel 
was afterwards completed, and served the cause of the Union for two years, 
when she was blown up on the Red River. 

When the raiding expedition reached Cairo, the officers found Foote 
getting his squadron together for the attack on Fort Donelson. This 
fortification was one strongly relied upon by the Confederates for the 
maintenance of their northern line of battle. It was on the bank of the 
Cumberland River, nearly opposite the site of Fort Henry on the Ten- 
nessee. A garrison of at least fifteen thousand men manned the works, 
and were commanded by no less than three generals ; and the fact that 
there were three generals in command had much to do with the fall of the 
fort. Its strength was rather on its river-front. Here the river winds 
about between abrupt hillsides, and on the front of one of these hills stood 
Fort Donelson. The water-batteries were made up of heavy guns, so 
mounted as to command the river for miles. On the landward side were 
heavy earthworks, abatis, and sharp pointed chevaiix-de-frise. 

Against this fortification marched Grant with an army of eighteen 
thousand men, and Foote with his flotilla of gunboats. The Sunday before 
the start, Foote, who was a descendant of the old Puritans, and ever as 
ready to pray as to fight, attended church in a little meeting-house at 
Cairo. The clergyman did not appear on time ; and the congregation 
waited, until many, growing weary, were leaving the cliurch. Then the 
bluff old sailor rose in his pew, and, marching to the pulpit, delivered a 
stirring sermon, offering thanks for the victories of the Union arms, and 
imploring divine aid in the coming struggles. The next day he was 



694 BLUE-JACKE'1'S OF '61. 



on his way to hurl shot and shell at the men in the trenches of Fort 
Donelson. 

While the capture of Fort Henry was a feather in the caps of the 
oailor-boys of the North, Fort Donelson must be credited to the valor of 
the soldiers. Against the heavy wall of the water-batteries, the guns 
of Foote's little flotilla pounded away in vain, while the heavy shells 
from the Confederate cannon did dreadful work on the thinly armored 
gunboats. It was on the 13th of April that the assault was opened by 
the "Carondclet." This x'cssel had reached the scene of action before the 
rest of the flotilla, and by order of the army commander tested the strength 
of the fort by a day's cannonade. She stationed herself about a mile 
from the batteries, at a spot where she would be somewhat protected by 
a jutting point, and began a deliberate cannonade with her bow-guns. One 
hunilrcd and thirty shots went whizzing from her batteries against the front 
of the Confederate batteries, without doing any serious damage. Then 
came an iron ball weighing one hundred and twenty pounds, fired from 
. heavy gun, which burst through one of her portholes, ami scattered men 
bleeding and mangled in every direction over the gundeck. She withdrew 
a short distance for repairs, but soon returned, and continued the fire the 
remainder of the day. When evening fell, she had sent one hundred and 
eighty shells at the fort, with the result of killing one man. This was not 
promising. 

The next day the attack was taken up by all the gunboats. Tlie 
distance chosen this time was four hundred yards, and the fight was \<c\A 
up most stubbornly. It was St. Valentine's Day; and as the swarthy 
sailors, stripped to the waist, begrimed with powder, and stained with 
blood, rammed huge iron balls down the muzzles of the guns, they said 
with grim pleasantry, "There's a valentine for the gray-coats." And right 
speedily did the gray-coats return the gift. Shot and shell from the 
batteries came in volleys against the sides of the gunboats. In the fort 
the condition of affairs was not serious. The shells chiefly fell in the soft 
earth of the hilltop above, and embedded themselves harmlessly in the 
mud. One of the gunners after the fight said : " We were more bothered 
by flying mud than any thing else. A shell bursting up there would 
throw out great clots of clay, that blocked up the touch-holes of our guns, 
spoiled the priming of our shells, and plastered up the faces of our men. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 695 

Of course, now and then a bit of shell would knock some poor fellow over ; 
but, though we were all green hands at war, we expected to see lots more 
blood and carnage than the Yankee gunboats dealt out to us." 

The gunboats, however, had put themselves in a hot place. Twenty 
hca\-y guns on the hillside high above were hurling solid shot down on the 
little fleet. The sailors stuck to their work well ; and though the vessels 
were in a fair way of being riddled, they succeeded in driving the enemy 
from his lower battery. But the upper battery was impregnable ; and the 
gunners there, having got the correct range, were shooting with unpleasant 
precision. Two of the vessels were disabled by being struck in the 
steering-chains. On the " Carondelet " a piece burst, hurling its crew bleed- 
ing on the deck. No vessel escaped with less than twenty wounds, while 
the flag-ship was hit fifty-nine times. Commodore Foote was wounded in 
the foot by a heavy splinter ; a wound from which he never fully recovered, 
ind which for some years debarred him from service afloat. 

That afternoon's bombardment showed clearly that Fort Donelson could 
never be taken by the navy. When Foote ordered his gunboats to cease 
firing and drop back out of position, the Confederates swarmed back 
into the lower battery that they had abandoned; and, after a few hours' 
work, the fort was as strong as before the fight. It was the first case 
in the history of the war in which the navy had failed to reduce the 
fortifications against which it had been ordered. The Hatteras forts, the 
works at Roanoke Island and at Hilton Head, Fort Henry — all had fallen 
before the cannon of the Union sailors ; and Foote may well be pardoned 
if he yielded to Gen. Grant with great reluctance the honor of reducing 
Fort Donelson. For two days Grant's army invested the fort, and kept 
up a constant cannonade ; theii the defenders, despairing of escape, and 
seeing no use of further prolonging the defence, surrendered. 

The capture of Fort Donelson was an important success for the Union 
arms. In addition to the large number of prisoners, and the great quantity 
of munitions of war captured, the destruction of the fort left the Cumber- 
land River open to the passage of the Union gunboats, and the Confederate 
battle-line was moved back yet another point. But now was to come 
a most heroic test of the [lower of the river-navy and the army of the 
North. 

Some si.xty miles below Cairo, the rushing, tawny current of the mighty 



6o6 BLUE-JACKETS OF '6r. 



Mississippi turns suddenly northward, sweeping back, apparently, toward 
its source, in a great bend eight or ten miles long. At the point where 
the swift current sweeps around the bend, is a low-lying island, about a 
mile long and half a mile wide. This is known as Island No. lo; and at 
the opening of the war, it was supposed to hold the key to the navigation 
of the Mississippi River. Here the Confederates had thrown up powerful 
earthworks, the heavy guns in which effectually commanded the river, both 
up and down stream. The works were protected against a land bombard- 
ment by the fact that the only tenable bit of land. New Madrid, was held 
by Confederate troops. The shores of the Mississippi about Island No. 
lo present the dreariest appearance imaginable. The Missouri shore 
is low and swampy. In iSii an earthquake-shock rent the land asunder. 
Great tracts were sunk beneath the water-level of the river. Trees were 
thrown down, and lie rotting in the black and miasmatic water. Other 
portions of the land were thrown up, rugged, and covered with rank 
vegetation, making hills that serve only as places of refuge for water- 
moccasons and other noxious reptiles. Around this dreary waste of mud 
and water, the river rushes in an abrupt bend, making a peninsula ten miles 
long and three wide. Below this peninsula is New Madrid, a little village 
in the least settled part of Missouri ; here the Confederates had established 
an army-post, and thrown up strong intrenchments. It was not, however, 
upon the intrenchments that they relied, but rather ui)on the impassable 
morasses by which they were surrounded on every side. In New Madrid 
were posted five or si.x thousand men ; a small fleet of Confederate gunboats 
lay in the stream off the village ; and higher up the river was Island No. 
lo, with its frowning bastions and rows of heavy siege-guns, prepared to 
beat back all advances of the Union troops. 

In planning for the attack of this stronghold, the first difficulty found 
by Commodore F"oote lay in the fact that his gunboats were above the 
l)atteries. In fighting down stream in that manner, the ships must be 
kept at long range: for, should a shot from the enemy injure the engine 
or boiler of a gunboat, the vessel is doomed ; for the rapid current will rush 
her down under the enemy's guns, and her capture is certain. But the peril 
of running the batteries so as to carry on the fight from below seemed 
too great to be ventured upon ; and besides, even with I.sland No. lo 
passed, there would still be the batteries of New Madrid to cope with, and 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 697 



the gunboats of the Confederates to take the ships in the rear. So it was 
determined that the navy should begin a bombardment of the Confederate 
works, while the army under Gen. Pope should attend to New Madrid. 
Accordingly, on March 15, the whiz of a rifled shell from the flag-ship 
" Benton" announced to the Confederates that the North wanted the 
Mississippi opened for travel. 

In this engagement use was made for the first time of a new style of 
vessel known as mortar-boats, which in later conflicts on the rivers did 
great service. These boats were simple floats, heavily built, and calculated 
to stand the most terrible shocks. On the float was raised a sort of sheet- 
iron fort or wall, about five feet high ; and in the centre stood one thirteen- 
inch mortar. The mortar is the earliest of all forms of cannon, and was in 
use in Europe in 1435. Its name is derived from its resemblance to an 
ordinary druggist's mortar. The great thirteen-inch mortars used in the 
civil war weighed seventeen thousand pounds, and threw a shell thirteen 
inclies in diameter. These shells were so heavy that it took two men to 
bring them up to the cannon's mouth. In the river-service, the mortar-boats 
were moored to the bank, and a derrick was set up in such a position that 
tiie shells could be hoisted up, and let fall into the yawning iron pot below. 
I"'oote had fourteen of these monsters pounding away at the Confederates, 
and the roar was deafening. 

A correspondent of the "Chicago Times," who was with the fleet at the 
lime of the bombardment, thus describes the manner of using these im- 
mense cannon : "The operation of firing the mortars, which was conducted 
when we were near by, is rather stunning. The charge is from fifteen to 
twenty-two pounds. The shell weighs two hundred and thirty pounds. 
For a familiar illustration, it is about the size of a large soup-plate. So 
your readers may imagine, when they sit down to dinner, the emotions they 
would experience if tiiey happened to see a ball of iron of those dimen- 
sions coming toward them at the rate of a thousand miles a minute. The 
boat is moored alongside the shore, so as to withstand the shock firmly, and 
the men go ashore when the mortar is fired. A pull of the string does the 
work, and the whole vicinity is shaken with the concussion. The report 
is deafening, and the most enthusiastic person gets enough of it witli two 
or three discharges. There is no sound from the shell at this point of 
observation, and no indication to mark the course it is taking; but in a few 



698 BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 



seconds the attentive observer with a good glass will see the cloud of smoke 
that follows its explosion, and then the report comes back with a dull boom. 
If it has done execution, the enemy may be seen carrying off their killed 
and wounded." 

And so from mortar-boats and gunboats, the iron hail was poured upon 
the little island, but without effect. When Foote with his flotilla first 
opened fire, he thought that the Confederate works would be swept away 
in a day or two. His ordnance was the heaviest ever seen on the 
Mississippi, and in number his guns were enough to have battered down a 
mountain. But his days grew to weeks, and still the flag of the Con- 
federacy floated above Island No. 10. The men on the mortar-boats were 
giving way under the tremendous shocks of the explosions. Many were 
rendered deaf for days at a time. The jar of the explosions brought to 
the surface of the river hundreds of old logs and roots that had lain rotting 
in the soft ooze of the bottom. When all the mortars were engaged, the 
surface of the river was covered with foam and bubbles ; and men by the 
thousand went about with their ears stufifed with tow, to protect them against 
the sound. Yet, after weeks of such firing. Gen. Beauregard telegraphed 
to Richmond, that the Yankees had "thrown three thousand shells, and 
burned fifty tons of gunpowder," without injuring his batteries in the least. 

The Confederates remained passive in their trenches. They had no 
guns that would carry far enough to reply to Foote's mortars, and they did 
not wish to waste powder. It was galling to stand fire without replying; 
but, fortunately for them, the fire was not very deadly, and but few were 
injured. When, however, a shell did fall within the works, it made work 
enough to repair damages, as by its explosion a hole as large as a small 
house would be torn in the ground. But for every one that fell within the 
batteries, twenty fell outside. Some strange freaks are recorded of the shells. 
One fell on a cannon, around which eight or ten men were lying. The gun- 
carriage was blown to pieces, but not a man was hurt. Another fell full 
on the head of a man who was walking about distributing rations, and not 
so much as a button from his uniform was ever found. 

But while the navy was thus playing at bowls with great guns, the 
army had marched through the interior, captured New Madrid, and 
obtained a foothold below Island No. 10. Thus the Confederates were 
surrounded ; and the very impassability of the land, that had been an 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 699 

advantage to them, now told against them, for it cut olt all hope 
of re-enforcements. Gen. Pope's position was such that he could not ^ct 
at the island, nor secure a commanding position, without aid from the nav)-. 
He begged Foote to try to run the batteries ; but the commodore replied, 
that the risk was greater than the prospective gain, and continued his 
cannonade. Then a new idea was broached. By cutting a canal through 
the bayous, swamps, and woods of the peninsula, the lighter vessels could 
be taken by the fort without risk, and Foote would then dare the dangers 
of a dash by in the gunboats. Every one said that such a canal was 
impossible ; but the men of the North were given to doing impossible 
things in those days, and while Foote's mortar-boats continued their 
thunder, fifteen hundred men were set to work cutting a way through the 
noisome swamps. A channel forty feet wide must be made. First gangs 
of men with a.xes and saws, working in three feet of water, went ahead, 
cutting down the rank vegetation. As fast as a little space was cleared, 
a small steamer went in, and with dredge and steam-capstan hauled out 
the obstructions. In some places the surveyed channel was so filled with 
drift-wood, fallen trees, and tangled roots, that the labor of a thousand 
men for a day seemed to make no impression. When the canal was pretty 
well blocked out, the levee was cut ; and the rush of the waters from the 
great river undermined trees, and piled up new obstacles for the steamers 
to tow away. Amid the foulest vapors the men worked, and more than a 
thousand were sent to the hospital with chills and fever, and rheumatism. 
The most venomous snakes lurked in the dark recesses of the swamp ; on 
cypress-stumps or floating logs the deadly water-moccason lay stretched out, 
ready to bite without warning. Wherever there was a bit of dry ground, 
the workers were sure to hear the rattle of the rattlesnake. Sometimes 
whole nests of these reptiles would be uncovered. 

The work was continued day and night. When the failing daylight 
ceased to make its way through the thickly intwined branches of trees 
and climbing vines, great torches would be lighted, and by their fitful glare 
the soldiers and sailors worked on in the water and mud. The light 
glared from the furnaces of the steamers, lighting up the half-naked forms 
of the stokers. Now and then some dry vine or tree would catch a spark 
from a torch, and in an instant would be transformed into a pillar of fire. 
After eight days of work the canal was finished, and was found to be of 



700 BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



sufficient depth for the passage of the transports. And now Commodore 
I'^oote saw that the time had come when he must attempt to run his 
gunboats past the forts, be the danger what it might. 

On April i, Foote ordered a reconnoissance of the batteries, and this 
order evoked one of the most daring deeds in the history of the war. 
The night was pitchy dark, and heavy clouds were driven across the sky 
by a strong, damp wind, that told of a coming storm. In five boats a party 
of fifty sailors and fifty soldiers put off from the fleet, prepared to go down 
and beard the Confederate lion in his den. Hardly had they started 
on their perilous expedition, when the rain began falling in sheets, and 
now and again flashes of lightning made the dark shores visible for an 
instant, then the black night hid every thing again from view. It was 
midnight, and the fierceness of the wind added to the terror of the moment. 
On the banks, the great forest-trees were bending and groaning before 
the blast, while the broad surface of the river was lashed into foaming 
billows. Under cover of the darkness the little band passed rapidly down 
the river ; past the shore-batteries and past the Confederate picket-boats, 
they sped unseen. When they were within a few feet of the shore, a flash 
of lightning revealed them for just an instant to the sentries. Then all 
was black, save for the quick flashes of the sentries' guns as they gave 
the alarm and fell back. The Federals landed rapidly, and drove the 
confused Confederates from the battery. Then began the work of spiking 
the guns. Every fifth man carried a number of rat-tail files, which were 
to be driven into the vents of the cannon, and then broken off. While 
the raiders were engaged in this work, the Confederates rallied, and soon 
drove back the blue-jackets to their boats, with a slight loss in killed and 
captured. How many guns they had disabled, it is hard to say. In the 
excitement and glory of successful adventure, the reports were much 
exaggerated. Histories of that date depict the men as calmly spiking 
every gun, and then retiring deliberately. One writer claims that only 
one gun was spiked. However, testimony from Confederates on duty in 
the batteries goes to show that four guns were totally disabled. But the 
true value of the adventure to the Union forces was the dash and valor 
it disclosed, and the encouragement the people received from its success. 

The next day after this successful exploit, a gunboat, the "Carondelet," 
was made ready to try the dash past the batteries of Island No. lo. 



BLUE-JACKKTS OV 'Oi. 70I 



Again the weather was favorable to the plans of the Federals, for the 
night was as dark and wild as the one before. The day had been clear, 
and the night opened with so bright a moon that for a time it was thought 
that the project would have to be abandoned ; but toward ten o'clock 
a heavy thunder-storm came up, and soon the black sky, the wildly waving 
tree-tops, and the sheets of rain scudding across the river, gave promise 
of a suitable night. 

All day the sailors on the "Carondclct" had been working busily, 
getting their \-essel in trim for the trip. Heavy planks were laid along the 
deck, to ward off plunging shot. Chain cables were coiled about all weak 
points, cord-wood was piled around the boilers, and the pilot-house was 
wrapped round and about with heavy hawsers. On the side toward the 
battery was tied a large barge, piled high with cotton-bales. When the 
time for starting drew nigh, all lights were extinguished. The guns were 
run in, and the ports closed. The sailors, heavily armed, were sent to their 
stations. Muskets, revolvers, and sabres were in the racks. Down in 
the boiler-room the stokers were throwing coal upon the roaring fires; and 
in the engine-room the engineer stood with his hand on the throttle, 
waiting for the signal to get under way. 

Towards eleven o'clock the time seemed propitious for starting. The 
storm was at its height, and the roll of the thunder would drown the beat of 
the steamer's paddles. The word was given ; and the " Carondelet," with 
her two protecting barges, passed out of sight of the flotilla, and down 
towards the cannon of the enemy. For the first half-mile all went well. 
The vessel sped along silently and unseen. The men on the gun-deck, 
unable to see about, sat breathlessly, expecting that at any moment a can- 
non-ball might come crashing through the side into their midst. Suddenly 
from the towering smoke-stacks, burst out sheets of flame five feet high, 
caused by the burning soot inside, and lighting up the river all about. 
Quickly extinguished, they quickly broke out again ; and now from the camp 
of the alarmed enemy came the roll of the drum, and the ringing notes of 
the bugle sounding the alarm. A gunboat was bearing down on the works, 
and the Confederates sprang to their guns with a will. The men on the 
"Carondelet" knew what to expect, and soon it came. Five signal rockets 
rushed up into the sky, and in an instant thereafter came the roar of a great 
gun from one of the batteries. Then all joined in, and the din became 



702 BLUE-JACKKTS OF '6i 



terrible. With volley after volley the Confederates hurled cannon-balls, 
shells, musket, and even pistol-bullets at the flying ship, that could only be 
seen an instant at a time by the fitful flashes of the lightning. On the 
" Carondclet " all was still as death. The men knew the deadly peril they 
were in, and realized how impossible it was for them to make any fight. In 
the black night, threading the crooked and ever-changing channel of the 
Mississippi River, it was impossible to go more than half-speed. In the 
bow men were stationed casting the lead, and calling out the soundings 
to the brave old Capt. Hoel, who stood on the upper deck unprotected 
from the storm of bullets, and repeated the soundings to Capt. Walker. 
So through the darkness, through the storm of shot and shell, the 
" Carondelet " kept on her way. Past the land-batteries, past the rows of 
cannon on the island, and past the formidable floating battery, she swept 
uninjured. Heavy and continuous as was the fire of the Confederates, it 
was mainly without aim. The hay-barge was hit three times, but not a 
scar was on the gunboat when she stopped before the water-front of New 
Madrid after twenty minutes' run through that dreadful fire. 

And now the roar of the great guns had died away, and the men on 
the vessels of the flotilla up the river were all an.xiety to know what had 
been the fate of their gallant comrades on the " Carondelet." All the 
time the battle raged, the decks of the ships at anchor were crowded with 
sailors looking eagerly down the river, and trying to make out by the 
blinding flashes of the cannon the dark form of a gunboat speeding by 
the hostile camp. Now all is silent ; the roar of battle is over, the flash 
of gunpowder no more lights up the night. But what has become of the 
gallant men who braved that tempest of steel and iron .' Are they floating 
down the troubled waters beneath the wreck of their vessel ? It was a 
moment of suspense. After a few minutes' silence, there comes through 
the strangely quiet air the deep boom of a heavy gun. It had been agreed, 
that, if the " Carondelet " made the passage of the batteries safely, she 
should fire six heavy guns. The old tars on the decks say softly to them- 
selves, "One." Then comes another, and a third, and still more, until 
suddenly a ringing cheer goes up from the flotilla, louder than the thunder 
itself. Men dance for joy ; grizzled tars fall into each other's arms, sing, 
shout, cry. An answering salute goes booming back, rockets scud up into 
the clouds ; and Commodore Foote, with a heart too full for talking, goes 
down into his cabin to be alone. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 1^2, 



That night's work by the "Carondelet" terminaied Confederate domain 
on Island No. lo. The next night another gunboat came down, and the 
two set to work carrying the troops across the river, protecting artillery- 
men engaged in erecting batteries, and generally completing the invest- 
ment of the island. In two days every loop-hole of escape for the Con- 
federates is closed, — gunboats above and below them, batteries peering 
iown from every bluff, and regiments of infantry, all prepared to move 
upon the works. They made one or two ineffectual but plucky attempts to 
ward off capture. One private soldier swam ashore, skulked past the 
Union pickets, and made his way to one of the Union mortar-boats. 
He succeeded in getting to the mortar, and successfully spiked it, thus 
terminating its usefulness. A second Confederate succeeded in reaching 
the deck of the mortar-boat, but while making his way across the deck 
tripped and fell. The rat-tail file he was carrying was driven into his side, 
making a wound from which he died in two hours. A third man, reckless 
of life, set out in a canoe to blow up a gunboat. He carried with him a 
fifty-pound keg of gunpowder, which he proposed to strap on the rudder- 
post of the vessel. He succeeded in getting under the stern of the vessel ; 
but the gleam of his lighted match alarmed the sentry, who fired, hitting 
him in the shoulder. The Confederate went overboard, and managed to 
get ashore ; while his keg of powder, with the fuse lighted, went drifting 
down stream. Soon it exploded, throwing up an immense column of water, 
and showing that it would have sent the stoutest vessel to the bottom had 
it been properly placed. 

But such struggles as these could not long avert the impending disaster. 
The Confederates were hemmed in on every side. It was true that they 
had a strong position, and could make a desperate resistance ; but they were 
separated from their friends, and their final downfall was but a question 
of time. Appreciating this fact, they surrendered two days after the 
" Carondelet " had passed the batteries ; and Foote made his second step 
(this time one of sixty miles) toward the conquest of the Mississippi. 

To-day nothing remains of the once extensive island, save a small sand- 
bank in the middle of the great river. The rushing current of the Father 
of Waters has done its work, and Island No. lo is now a mere tradition. 




CHAPTER XI. 



FA.VOUS CONFEDERATE PRIVATEERS, — THE "ALABAMA," THE "SHENANDOAH," THE 

" NASHVILLE." 




ET US now desert, for a time, the progress of the Union forces 
down the Mississip])i River, and turn our attention toward the 
true home of the sailors, — the blue waters of the ocean. We 
have heard much, from many sources, of the exploits of the 
Confederate commerce-destroyers, jirivateers, or, as the Union authorities 
and the historians of the war period loved to call them, the "Rebel pirates." 
In the course of this narrative we have already dealt with the career of 
the "Sumter," one of the earliest of these vessels. A glance at the career 
of the most famous of all the Confederate cruisers, the " Alabama," will be 
interesting. 

This vessel was built in England, ostensibly as a merchant-vessel, 
although her heavy decks and sides, and her small hatchways, might have 
warned the English officials that she was intended for purposes of war. 
Before she was finished, liowever, the customs-house people began to suspect 
her character; and goaded on by the frequent complaints of the United 
States minister, that a war-vessel was being built for the Confederates, 
they determined to seize her. ]?ut customs-house officials do things slowly • 
ami, while tiicy were getting ready for the seizure, Capt. Semmes, who had 
704 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 7^5 

taken command of the new ship, duped them, and got his vessel safely 
out of English waters. Private detectives and long-shore customs officers 
had been visiting the ship daily on visits of examination ; but, by the aid 
of champagne and jolly good-fellowship, their inexperienced eyes were 
easily blinded to the manifest preparations for a war-like cruise. But 
finally came a retired naval officer who was not to be humbugged. A 
sailor on board thus tells the story of his visit : " He was evidently 
a naval officer, alert and resolute, and soon silenced the officer's explana- 
tions. He looked at the hatchways, shot-racks, and magazines ; and, sur- 
veying the hammock-hooks on the berth-deck, said, 'You'll have a large 
crew for a merchant-steamer.' We had taken on board some heavy oak 
plank, that lay on the main deck ; the officer remarked that they were for 
anchor-stocks, and was shortly answered, 'Wouldn't make bad gun-plat- 
forms, sir,' which, indeed, was just what they were intended for. With 
a -' Good-morning, sir,' our visitor mounted the side and was gone." This 
visit alarmed the Confederates ; and immediate preparations were made 
to run the ship, which still went by the name of the " No. 290," out of 
the British waters the next day. To disarm suspicion, a large party of 
ladies and gentlemen were invited aboard ; and the ship started down the 
Mersey, ostensibly on her trial trip, with the sounds of music and popping 
corks ringing from her decks. But peaceful and merry as the start seemed, 
it was the beginning of a voyage that was destined to bring ruin to 
hundreds of American merchants, and leave many a good United States 
vessel a smoking ruin on the breast of the ocean. When she was a short 
distance down the river, two tugs were seen putting off from the shore ; 
and in a moment the astonished guests were requested to leave the ship, 
and betake themselves homeward in the tugs. It is unnecessary to follow 
the voyage of the "No. 290" to Nassau, and detail the way in which 
cannon, ammunition, and naval stores were sent out from Portsmouth in 
a second vessel, and transferred to her just outside of Nassau. It is enough 
to say that on a bright, clear Sunday morning, in the latter part of August, 
1862, Capt. Rafael Semmes, late of the Confederate cruiser " Sumter," 
a gentleman of middle height, wearing a uniform of gray and gold, liis 
dark mustache waxed to such sharp points that one would think him a 
PVcnchman rather than a Southerner, stood on the quarter-deck of the 
" No. 290," with his crew mustered before him, reading out his commission 



7o6 BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



from Jefferson Davis, as commander of the Confederate States' steam- 
sloop "Alabama." As he read, an old master's-mate, standing at the 
peak-halyards, begins pulling at the ropes. The British ensign, carried 
through the ship's anonymous days, comes fluttering down, and in its place, 
runs up the white naval ensign of the Confederacy, with the starry Southern 
cross in the red field of the corner. Then the reading is ended. Boom ! 
goes the starboard forecastle-gun. The band bursts forth with the stirring 
notes of Dixie; and the sailors, after three ringing cheers, crowd forward 
to wait for further developments. Soon the sailors are summoned aft 
again, and Capt. Semmes addresses them. He tells them that, as the 
" Alabama " is to be a ship-of-war, they are released from their shipping 
contracts, but are invited to ship under the new plan. He briefly details 
the purpose of the cruise. The "Alabama" is to be a bird of passage, 
flitting from port to port, and hovering about the highways of travel, to 
lie in wait for the merchant-vessels of the North. Armed vessels she will 
avoid as much as possible, confining her warfare to the helpless merchant- 
men. It is hardly a glorious programme, but it seems to bear the promise 
of prize-money ; and before the day is over Capt. Semmes has shipped a 
crew of eighty men, and with these the "Alabama" begins her cruise. The 
remainder of the sailors are sent ashore, and the "Alabama" starts off 
under sail, in search of her first capture. 

Let us look for a moment at this vessel, perhaps the most famous 
of all cruisers. She was a fast screw-steamer, of a little more than a 
thousand tons' burden. Her screw was so arranged that it could be hoisted 
out of the water ; and, as the saving of coal was a matter of necessity, the 
"Alabama" did most of her cruising under sail. Her hull was of wood, 
v.'ith no iron plating, and her battery consisted of but eight light guns ; 
two facts which made it necessary that she should avoid any conflicts with 
the powerful ships of the United States navy. Her lines were beautifully 
■ine; and, as she sped swiftly through the water, Capt. Semmes felt that 
his vessel could escape the Northern cruisers as easily as she could overhaul 
the lumbering merchantmen. The crew was a turbulent one, picked up 
in the streets of Liverpool, and made up of men of all nationalities. 
Terrific rows would arise in the forecastle, and differences between the 
sailors were often settled by square stand-up fights. The petty oflic;rs 
seldom interfered ; one old boatswain remarking, when he heard the noise 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 707 

of blows in the forecastle, "Blast them, let 'em slug one another's heads 
off; it will keep 'em out of mischief." And it generally did, for the 
combatants were usually fast friends the next day. 

As soon as the new ship was cleaned up, and put in order, drill began., 
The men were all green ; and hard, steady work at the guns, and with the 
cutlasses, was necessary to fit them for service. The decks resounded with 
"right," "left," "head protect," "right overcut." The men were slow in 
learning ; but the ofificers were Southerners, devoted to their cause, and 
were tireless in getting the crew into shape. 

After several days of cruising and drill, a vessel was sighted which was 
unmistakably American. One of the sailors tells the story of her capture 
graphically. "On the morning of the 5th of September the cry of 'ship 
ahoy!' from the masthead brought all hands on deck. Sure enough, about 
two miles to the leeward of us was a fine barque, at once pronounced a 
' spouter ' (whaler), and an American. In order to save coal, — of which 
very essential article we had about three hundred tons aboard, — we never 
used our screw unless absolutely necessary. We were on the starboard 
tack, and with the fresh breeze soon came alongside. We had the 
American flag set, and the chase showed the stars and stripes. A gun was 
fired ; and, as we came within hail, we gave the order, ' Back your main- 
sail ; I'll send a boat on board of you.' 

" ' Cutter away," and the boat came down from the davits, and we 
pulled for our first prize. It soon became a vain thing, and tiresome ; but 
this our first essay was a novelty, and we made the stretches buckle with 
our impatience to get aboard. The bowman hooked on to the chains, and 
wc went up the side like cats. When we got aft, the captain asked in a 
dazed sort of manner, 'Why — why — what docs this mean.'' The master, 
Fullam, replied, 'You are prize to the Confederate steamer "Alabama," 
Capt. Semmes commanding. I'll trouble you for your papers.' Now, this 
man had been four years out, and had no doubt heard of the trouble at 
home; but he couldn't realize this, and he stared, and said, 'Confederate 
government — Alabama — why, that's a State,' and then was sternly told 
to get his papers. We were ordered to put the crew in irons, and they, 
too, seemed utterly dumbfounded ; and one poor fellow said to me, ' Must I 
lose all my clothes ? ' I answered, ' Yes,' but advised him to put on all he 
could, and if he had any money to slip it in his boot. 'Money! I h'aint 
seen a dollar for three years ; but I'm obliged to ye all the same.' " 



7o8 BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



Then, after searching the vessel for valuables, the captives were taken 
back to the " Alabama," while one boat's-crevv remained behind to fire the 
vessel. 

"She was Ic .ded with oil," writes sailor Haywood; "and, when it 
caught, a high column of dense black smoke poured out of the hatchways, 
and spread in vast involutions to the leeward. Soon the red forked flames 
began to climb her masts, and her spars glowed with light ; with a crash 
her mainmast fell, carrying the foremast with it, and sending a shower A 
5parks high in the air ; her stout sides seemed to burst open ; and what was 
a stately ship was now a blackened hulk, the rising sea breaking in white- 
caps over it, and at last, with a surge and wallow, sinking out of sight." 
Alone, by one of the lee-ports, the ruined American captain stood, looking 
sadly upon the end of all his long four years' labor. For this he had borne 
the icy hardships of the Arctic seas. The long, dreary four years of separa- 
tion from wife and home had been lightened by the thought, that by a 
prosperous voyage he might bring home enough money to stay always m 
the little shingled cottage in the narrow street of some New England 
fishing-village ; but now all that was over. When he should arrive home 
he would be penniless, with nothing but the clothes on his back, and all 
because of a war of the very existence of which he knew nothing. It was 
hard to bear, but war brings nothing but affliction. 

After this capture, the "Alabama" had a lively season for several weeks, 
capturing often two or three vessels a day. Generally they met with no 
resistance ; but occasionally the blood of some old sea-dog would boil, and 
he would do the best in his power to injure his captors. A story of one 
such incident was thus told by one of the "Alabama's " crew : — 

" When we ran around in search of whalers, we came upon a Yankee 
skipper who didn't know what surrender meant. We were just well to the 
v.'cst of the stormy cape, when one morning after breakfast we raised a 
whaler. He was headed up the coast, and about noon we overhauled him. 
He paid no attention to the first shot, and it was only when the second one 
hulled him that he came into the wind. It was then seen that he had fifteen 
or sixteen men aboard, and that all were armed with muskets, and meant to 
defend the ship. The lieutenant was sent off with his boat ; but no sooner 
was he within fair musket-range, than the whaler opened on him, killing ono 
man, and wounding two, at the first volley. The officer pushed ahead, and 



BLUE-JACKEIS OF '61. 7^9 



demanded a surrender; but he got another volley, and the rcjily that the 
whaler ' would go to the bottom before he would surrender to a Rebel ! ' 

"The boat was recalled, and our gunners were instructed to hull the 
whaler with solid shot. We approached him within rifle-range, and opened 
fire. Every one of the balls plumped through his side at and above the 
water-line, and he answered with his muskets, severely wounding two men. 
He was repeatedly hailed to surrender, but in reply he encouraged his men 
to maintain their fire. We soon had the sea pouring into his starboard 
side through a dozen holes ; and when it was seen that he would soon go 
down, we ceased firing, and again demanded his surrender. I can remember 
just how he looked as he sprang upon the rail, — tall, gaunt, hair flying, and 
eyes blazing, — and shouted in repi)', — 

'"The ' Ben Scott' don't surrender ! Come and take us — if you can.' 

"Five minutes later his craft settled down, bow first. We lowered 
the boats to save his crew, and, strangely enough, not a man was lost. 
When we brought them aboard, the Yankee skipper walked up to Semmes, 
bareheaded, barefooted, and coatless, and said, — 

"'If I'd only have had one old cannon aboard, we'd have licked ye out 
of yer butes ! Mere we are, and what are ye going to do with us ? ' 

" He was voted a jolly good fellow, and the crew were better treated 
than any other ever forced aboard. In order to give them their liberty, 
the very ne.xt cai^ture we made was bonded, and they were put aboard 
to sail for home." 

But now the decks of the "Alabama" were getting rather uncom- 
fortably crowded with prisoners, and it became necessary to put into some 
port where they could be landed. Accordingly the ship was headed for 
Martinique, and soon lay anchored in the harbor of that place, where she 
began coaling. While she lay there, a Yankee schooner put into the port, 
and was about to drop anchor near the dangerous cruiser, when some one 
gave the skipper a hint ; and, with a startled " b'gosh," he got his sails up, 
and scudded out to sea. The " Alabama " lay in port some days. The 
first set of the sailors who received permission to go ashore proceeded to 
get drunk, and raised so great a disturbance, that thereafter they were 
obliged to look on the tropical prospect from the deck of the vessel. The 
ne.\t day a United States war-vessel was seen standing into the harbor, 
and Capt. Semmes immediately began to make preparations to fight her, 



710 BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



T?iit as she came nearer she proved to be the " San Jacinto," a vessel 

mounting fonrteen heavy guns, and altogether too powerful for the "Ala 

bama." So thinking discretion the better part of valor, the Confederate 

ship remained safe in the neutral harbor. The "San Jacinto" quietly 

remained outside, thinking that at last the fox was caught. But that same 

night, with all lighis extinguished, and running under full steam, the 

"Alabama" slipped right under the broadside of her enemy, getting clean 

away, so quietly that the " San Jacinto " remained for four days guarding 

the empty trap, while the " Alabama " was off again on another voyage of 

destruction, and the tuneful souls in the forecastle were roaring out the 

chorus, — 

" Oh, our jolly privateer 

Has left old England's shore ! 

Lord, send us lots of prizes, 

But no Yankee man-of-war." 

Soon after leaving Martinique, the " Alabama " made a capture which 
embarrassed the captain not a little by its size. It was Sunday (which 
Capt. Semmes calls in his journal "the 'Alabama's' lucky day"), when a 
bit of smoke was seen far off on the horizon, foretelling the approach of 
a steamer. Now was the time for a big haul: mid the "Alabama's" canvas 
was furled, and her steam-gear put in running order. The two vessels 
approached each other rapidly ; and soon the stranger came near enough 
for those on the "Alabama" to make out her huge walking-beam, see- 
sawing up and down amidships. The bright colors of ladies' dresses were 
visible ; and some stacks of muskets, and groups of blue-uniformed men, 
forward, told of the presence of troops. The "Alabama" came up swiftly, 
her men at the guns, and the United States flag flying from the peak, — 
a rather dishonorable ruse habitually practised by Capt. Semmes. In a 
moment the stranger showed the stars and stripes, and then the "Ala- 
bama" ran up the white ensign of the Confederacy, and fired a blank 
cartridge. But the stranger had no thought of surrendering, and crowded 
on all steam and fled. The "Alabama" was no match for her in speed, 
so a more peremptory summons was sent in the shape of a shell that cut 
the steamer's foremast in two. This hint was sufficient. The huge pad- 
dles ceased revolving, and a boat's-crew from the "Alabama" went aboard 
to take possession. The prize proved to be the mail steamer " Ariel." with 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



five hundred passengers, besides a hundred and forty marines and a num- 
ber of army and navy officers. Now Capt. Semmes had an elephant on 
his hands, and what to do with that immense number of people he could 
not imagine. Clearly the steamer could not be burned like other captures. 
For two days Capt. Semmes kept the prize near him, debating what was 
to be done, and then released her ; exacting from all the military and 
naval officers their paroles that they would not take up arms against the 
Confederacy. 

After this exploit the "Alabama" went into port for a few days, and 
then headed into the Gulf of Mexico. Here she steamed about, capturing 
and burning a few United States merchantmen, until on the uth of 
January she found herself off the port of Galveston, where a strong block- 
ading fleet was stationed. And here she fought her first battle. 

About four o'clock of a clear afternoon, the lookout in the cross trees of 
the United States sloop-of-war " Hatteras," stationed off the port of Galves- 
ton, hailed the officer of the deck, and reported a steamer standing up and 
down outside. The stranger was watched closely through marine glasses, 
and finally decided to be a blockade-runner trying to make the port ; and 
the " Hatteras " immediately set out in pursuit. This was just what Capt. 
Semmes desired. He knew that the ships stationed off Galveston were not 
heavily armed, and he felt sure that if he could entice one away from the 
rest of the fleet he would be able to send her to the bottom. Accordingly 
he steamed away slowly, letting the " Hatteras " gain on him, but at the 
same time drawing her out of the reach of any aid from her consorts. 
When about twenty miles away from the fleet, the "Alabama" slowed 
down and finally stopped altogether, waiting for the "Hatteras" to come 
up. The latter vessel came within two hundred yards, and hailed, " What 
ship's that.'" — "Her Majesty's ship 'Petrel,'" answered Semmes, pur- 
suing the course of deception that brings so much discredit on his other- 
wise dashing career. The captain of the "Hatteras" answered that he 
would send a boat aboard ; but, before the boat touched the water, a second 
hail announced, " We are the Confederate ship ' Alabama,' " and in an 
instant a heavy broadside crashed into the "Hatteras." Every one of the 
shots took effect; and one big fellow from the one hundred and five pounder 
rifle peeled off six feet of iron plating from the side of the " Hatteras," and 
lodged in the hold. Dazed by this unexpected fire, but plucky as ever, the 



712 Bl.UK-JACKKlS OF '6i. 

bliic-jackcts sprang to their guns and returned the fire. The two shijjs 
were so close together that a good shot with a revolver could have picked 
off his man every time, and the sailors hurled taunts at each other between 
the volleys. Not a shot missed the " Hatteras : " in five minutes she was 
iiddled with holes, and on fire, and a minute or two later the engineer came 
up coolly and reported, " Engine's disabled, sir ;" followed quickly by the 
carpenter, who remarked, " Ship's making water fast ; can't float more than 
ten minutes, sir." There was nothing for it but surrender, and the flag 
came down amid frantic yells from the "Alabama" sailors. Semmes got 
out his boats with wonderful rapidity, and picked up all the men on the 
" Hatteras ; " and the defeated vessel sank in ten minutes One ol the 
strange things about this battle was the small number of men injured. 
Nothing but shells were fired, and they searched every part of the vessels ; 
yet when the fight was over the "Alabama" had but one man wounded, 
while the "Hatteras" had two men killed and three wounded. The shells 
played some strange pranks in their course. One ripped up a long furrow 
in the deck of the "Alabama," and knocked two men high in the air with- 
out disabling them. Another struck a gun full in the mouth, tore off one 
side of it, and shoved it back ten feet, without injuring any of the crew. 
One man who was knocked overboard by the concussion was back again 
and serving his gun in two minutes. A shell exploded in the coal of the 
"Hatteras," and sent the stuff flying all about the vessel, without injuring 
a man. 

With her prisoners stowed away in all available places about her decks, 
the "Alabama" headed for Jamaica, and cast anchor in the harbor of Port 
Royal. Tliere were several English men-of-war there, and the officers of 
the victorious ship were lionized and feasted to their hearts' content. The 
prisoners were landed, the "Alabama's" wounds were bound up, and she 
was made ready for another cruise. 

After five days in port, she set out again on her wanderings about the 
world. Week after week she patrolled the waters in all parts of the globe 
where ships were likely to be met. Sometimes she would go a fortnight 
without a capture, and then the men in the forecastle would grow turbulent 
and restive under the long idleness. Every bit of brass-work was polished 
hour after hour, and the officers were at their wits' end to devise means for 
" teasing-time." The men made sword-knots and chafing-gear enough 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 7^3 



to last the whole navy, ami then looked longingly at the captain's mustache, 
as the only thing left in which a "Turk's head" could be tied. Music 
enlivened the hours for a time ; but the fiddler was soon voted a bore, and 
silenced by some one pouring a pint of molasses into the /-holes of his 
instrument. The enraged musician completed the job by breaking it over 
the head of the joker. After several weeks, they put into Cape Town. 
Here the practical joker of the crew made himself famous by utterly 
routing an inquisitive old lady, who asked, "What do you do with your 
prisoners.'" The grizzled old tar dropped his \-oice to a confidential 
whisper, and, with a look of the utmost frankness, replied, " We biles 'em, 
mum. We tried a roast, but there ain't a bounce of meat on one o' them 
Yankee carkages. Yes, mum, we biles 'em." The startled old lady gasped 
out, " Good lordy," and fled from the ship. 

Putting out from Cape Town, the "Alabama" continued her weary 
round of cruising. Many vessels were captured, and most of them were 
burned. One Yankee captain proved too much for Semmes, as his story 
v.ill show. His ship was chased by the "Alabama" in heavy weather all 
day, and occasionally fired upon. When the steamer was abeam, " she 
closed up with us," the captain says, "as near as safety would permit, and, 
hailing us, asked where we were bound, and demanded the surrender of 
the ship to the Confederate Government. I answered through my trumpet, 
'Come and take me.' Conversation being too straining for the lungs 
amid the howling of the wind and rolling of the huge billows, and the 
proximity of the vessels too dangerous, we separated a little, and had 
recourse to blackboards to carry on our conversation. Semmes asked 
where we were bound. I answered, without a blush, ' Melbourne,' thinking 
that possibly he might try to intercept me if he knew that I was to pass 
through the Straits of Sunda. Tlicn he had the cheek to order me to 
'haul down your flag and surrender, escape or no escape,' — on a kind of 
parole, I suppose he meant. I wrote on the board : ' First capture, then 
parole.' This answer vexed him, I am sure, for he immediately wrote : 
'Surrender, or I will sink you.' I wrote: ' Tliat would be murder, not 
battle.' — 'Call it what you will, I will do it,' he wrote. 'Attempt it, and 
by the living God, I will run you down, and we will sink lugcther,' I wrote 
in reply. I knew his tlircat was vain ; for in that heavy sea, rolling his 
rails under, he did not dare to free his guns, which were already double 



714 BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 



lashed. They would have carried away their tackles, and gone through 
the bulwarks overboard. Conscious that he had made empty threats, we 
said no more, but doggedly kept on our course. Sail was still further 
reduced on both vessels, as the wind kept increasing and was now blowing 
a gale. We were now gradually and surely drawing ahead of the steamer. - 
It was growing dark. Rejoicing at my fortunate escape, I gave the valiant 
Semmes a parting shot by hoisting the signal ' Good-by.' Dipping the 
star-spangled banner as a salute, I hauled it down, and the steamer was 
soon lost to sight in the darkness. ... I never saw her after our escape ; 
but, indirectly, she forced me to sell my ship in China soon after." 

But we cannot follow the "Alabama" in her career about the world. 
A full account of her captures would fill volumes ; and in this narrative 
we must pass hastily by the time that she spent scouring the ocean, 
dodging United States men-of-war, and burning Northern merchantmen, 
until, on the nth of June, she entered the harbor of Cherbourg, France, 
and had hardly dropped anchor when the United States man-of-war 
" Kearsarge" appeared outside, and calmly settled down to wait for the 
Confederate to come out and fight. Capt. Semmes seemed perfectly ready 
for the conflict, and began getting his ship in shape for the battle. The 
men, too, said that they had had a " plum-pudding voyage " of it so far, 
and they were perfectly ready for a fight. The forecastle poet was set 
to work, and soon ground out a song, of which the refrain was , — 

" We're homeward bound, we're homeward bound ! 
And soon shall stand on English ground ; 
But, ere our native land we see. 
We first must fight the ' Kearsargee.' " 

This was the last song made on board the "Alabama," and the poet was 
never more seen after the fight with the "Kearsargee." 

The " Kearsarge " had hardly hove in sight when Capt. Semmes began 
taking in coal, and ordered the yards sent down from aloft, and the ship 
put in trim for action. Outside the breakwater, the "Kearsarge" was 
doing the same thing. In armament, the two vessels were nearly equal ; 
the " Alabama " having eight guns to the " Kearsarge's " seven, but the 
guns of the latter vessel were heavier and of greater range. In the matter 
of speed, the " Kearsarge " had a slight advantage. The great advantage 




t.ESCUE OF CAPT. SEMMES. 



715 



;i6 BLUfi:-JACKETS OF '6i. 



which the "Kearsarge" had was gained by the forethought of her com- 
mander, who had chains hung down her sides, protecting the boilers and 
machinery. Semmes might easily have done the same thing had the 
itba occurred to him. 

It was on Sunday, June 19, that the "Alabama " started out to the duel 
that was to end in her destruction. Though Sunday was Capt. Semmes's 
lucky day, his luck this time seemed to have deserted him. The "Ala- 
bama" was accompanied in her outward voyage by a large French iron- 
clad frigate. The broad breakwater was black with people waiting to 
see the fight. The news had spread as far as Paris, and throngs had come 
down by special trains to view the great naval duel. A purple haze hung 
over the placid water, through which could be seen the " Kearsarge," with 
her colors flying defiantly, steaming slowly ahead, and ready for the 
"Alabama" to come up. Small steamers on every side followed the 
" Alabama," as near the scene of conflict as they dared. One English 
yacht, the " Deerhound," with her owner's family aboard, hung close to the 
combatants during the fight. No duel of the age of chivalry had a more 
enger throng of spectators. 

Now the "Alabama" has passed the three-mile line, and is on the open 
sea. The big French iron-clad stops ; the pilot-boats, with no liking for 
cannon-balls, stop too. The "Deerhound" goes out a mile or so farther, 
and the "Alabama" advances alone to meet the antagonist that is 
waiting quietly for her coming. The moment of conflict is at hand; and 
Capt. Semmes, mustering his men on the deck, addresses them briefly, and 
sends them to their quarters ; and now, with guns shotted, and lanyards 
taut, and ready for the pull, the " Alabama " rushes toward her enemy. 
When within a distance of a mile, the first broadside was let fly, without 
avail. The " Kearsarge," more cool and prudent, waits yet awhile ; and, 
nhen the first shot does go whizzing from her big Dahlgren guns, it strikes 
the "Alabama," and makes her quiver all over. Clearly it won't do to 
fight at long range ; and Capt. Semmes determines to close in on his more 
powerful antagonist, and even try to carry her by boarding, as in the 
glorious days of Paul Jones. But the wary Winslow of the " Kearsarge " 
will Iiave none of that ; and he keeps his ship at a good distance, all tlie 
time pouring great shot into the sides of the "Alabama." Now the two 
vessels begin circling around each other in mighty circles, each trying to 
get in a raking position. The men on the " AlriKrima" began to find that 




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BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. T^l 

their gunpowder was bad and caky ; while at the same moment one of the 
officers saw two big solid shot strike the " Kearsarge " amidships, and fall 
back into the water, revealing the heretofore unsuspected armor. This was 
discouraging. Then came a big shot that knocked over the pivot-gun, and 
killed half its crew. One sailor saw a shot come in a port, glide along the 
gun, and strike the man at the breach full in the breast, killing him instantly. 

The " Kearsarge," too, was receiving some pretty heavy blows, but her 
iron armor protected her vulnerable parts. One shell lodged in her stern- 
post, but failed to explode. Had it burst, the " Kearsarge's " fighting 
would have been over. 

After an hour the officers of the "Alabama" began coming to Capt. 
Semmes with grave faces, and reporting serious accidents. At last the 
first lieutenant reported the ship sinking, and the order was given to strike 
the flag. She was sinking rapidly, and the time had come for every man 
to save himself. The " Kearsarge " was shamefully slow in getting out her 
boats ; and finally when the " Alabama," throwing her bow high in the air, 
went down with a rush, she carried most of her wounded with her, and 
left the living struggling in the water. Capt. Semmes was picked up by 
a boat from the yacht "Dcerhound," and was carried in that craft to 
England away from capture. For so escaping, he has been harshly criti- 
cised by many people ; but there seems to be no valid reason why he 
should refuse the opportunity so offered him. Certain it is, that, had 
he not reached the " Deerhound," he would have been drowned ; for none 
of the boats of the " Kearsarge " were near him when he was struggling in 
the water. 

So ended the career pf the "Alabama." Her life had been a short one, 
and her career not the most glorious imaginable ; but she had fulfilled the 
purpose for which she was intended. She had captured sixty-four mer- 
chant-vessels, kept a large number of men-of-war busy in chasing her from 
one end of the world to the other, and inflicted on American commerce 
an almost irreparable injury. 

Although the "Alabama" was by all means the most noted and the 
most successful of all the Confederate cruisers, there were others that 
entered upon the career of privateering, and followed it for a while with 
varying degrees of success. Some were captured revenue-cutters, which 
the Confederates armed with a single heavy gun, and turned loose on the 



7l8 BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



ocean in search of Yankee schooners. Others were merely tugs or [)ilot- 
boats. Generally their careers were short. In one instance a lino [irisa- 
tccr, from which the Confederates cxiK'cted great things, attempted to 
capture a United States man-of-war, under the delusion that it was a mer- 
chant-vessel. Tile captain of tlie man-of-war saw the mistake under which 
the Confederate labored, and allowed the privateer to come up within short 
range, when, with a sudden broadside, he sent her to the bottom, abruptly 
terminating her career as a commerce destroyer. Some quite formidable 
iron-clad cruisers were built abroad ; but in most cases all the diplomacy of 
the Confederate agents proved unavailing to prevent the confiscation of the 
ships by the neutral governments in whose territory they were built. Two 
iron-clad rams built at Liverpool, ostensibly for private parties, but really 
for the Confederate Government, were seized by the British authorities. 
Si.x splendid vessels were built in France, but only one succeeded in get- 
ting away to join the Confederate service. This one was a ram with 
armored sides, and was named the " Stonewall." The war was nearly over 
when she was put in commission, and her services for the Confederacy 
amounted to nothing. She made one short cruise, during which she fell 
in with two United States men-of-war, that avoided a fight with her on 
account of her superior strength. At the end of her cruise the war was 
over, and she was sold to the Mikado of Japan, whose flag she now carries. 

The "Nashville" was an old side-wheel passenger-steamer, of which the 
Confederates had made a privateer. Her career was a short one. She 
made one trip to England as a blockade-runner, and on her return voyage 
she burned three or four United States merchantmen. She then put into 
the Great Ogeechee River, where she was blockaded by three Union men- 
of-war. The Confederates protected her by filling the river with torpedoes, 
and anchoring the ship at a point where the guns of a strong fort could 
beat back all assailants. Here she lay for several weeks, while the men 
on the blockaders were fuming at the thought that they were to be 
kept idle, like cats watching a rat-hole. At last Capt. Worden, who was 
there with his redoubtable monitor " Montauk," determined to destroy 
the privateer, despite the torpedoes and the big guns of the fort. He 
accordingly began a movement up the river, picking his way slowly through 
the obstructions. The fort began a lively cannonade ; but Worden soon 
found that he had nothing to fear from that quarter, as the guns were not 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



719 



heavy enough to injure the iron sides of the little monitor. But, as he 
went up the river, the " Nashville " took the alarm and fled before him ; 
and it seemed that the most the Union fleet could do would be to keep 
her from coming down again, for with her light draught she could keep well 
out of range of the monitor's guns. But one morning VVorden perceived a 
strange commotion on the " Nashville ; " and, looking carefully through his 
glass, he saw that she was aground. Now was his time ; and at once he 
pushed forward to a point twelve hundred yards from her, and directly 
under the guns of Fort MacAllister. From this point he began a deliberate 
fire upon the doomed privateer. The great guns of the fort were roaring 
away, and their shells came crashing against the sides of the " Montauk ; " 
but to this Worden paid no heed. It was splendid long distance practice 
for his gunners ; and, when they got the range, not a shot missed the 
stranded Confederate vessel. From his pilot-house Worden could see the 
crew of the "Nashville" escaping in boats, leaping into the water over 
the sides, — doing anything to escape from that terribly destructive fire. 
All the time the great fifteen-inch shells were dropping into the vessel with 
fearful precision. By and by a heavy fog fell upon the scene ; but the gun- 
ners on the " Montauk" knew where their enemy was, and kept up their 
steady fire, though they could see nothing. When the fog lifted, they saw 
the " Nashville " a mass of flames ; and in a moment she blew up, covering 
the placid surface of the river with blackened fragments. Then the " Mon- 
tauk " returned to her consorts, well satisfied with her day's work. 

The last of the Confederate privateers to ravage the ocean was the 
" Shenandoah," originally an English merchant-vessel engaged in the East 
India trade. She was large, fast, and strongly built ; and the astute agent 
of the Confederacy knew, when he saw her lying in a Liverpool dock, that 
she was just calculated for a privateer. She was purchased by private 
parties, and set sail, carrying a large stock of coal and provisions, but no 
arms. By a strange coincidence, a second vessel left Liverpool the same 
day, carrying several mysterious gentlemen, who afterwards proved to be 
Confederate naval officers. The cargo of this second vessel consisted 
almost entirely of remarkably heavy cases marked "machinery." The two 
vessels, once out of English waters, showed great fondness for each other, 
and proceeded together to a deserted, barren island near Madeira. Here 
they anchored side by side ; and the mysterious gentlemen, now resplendent 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 721 

in the gray and gold uniform of the Confederacy, stepped aboard the 
" Shenandoah." Then the cases were hoisted out of the hold of the 
smaller vessel ; and, when the "machinery" was mounted on the gun-deck 
of the " Shenandoah," it proved to be a number of very fine steel-rifled 
cannon. Then the crew was mustered on the gun-deck, and informed that 
they were manning the new Confederate ship "Shenandoah;" and with 
a cheer the flag was hoisted at the peak, and the newly created ship-of-war 
started off in search of merchantmen to make bonfires of. From Madeira 
the cruiser made for the Southern Ocean, — a fresh field not yet ravaged 
by any Confederate vessel. This made the hunting all the better for the 
"Shenandoah," and she burned vessels right and left merrily. In the spring 
of 1865, she put into the harbor of Melbourne, Australia, where her officers 
were lavishly entertained by the citizens. Thence she proceeded to the 
northward, spending some time in the Indian Ocean, and skirting the Asiatic 
coast, until she reached Behrings Straits. Here she lay in wait for return- 
ing whalers, who in that season were apt to congregate in Belirings Sea in 
great numbers, ready for the long voyage around Cape Horn to their home 
ports on the New England coast. Capt. Waddell was not disappointed in 
his expectations, for he reached the straits just as the returning whalers 
were coming out in a body. One day he captured eleven in a bunch. With 
one-third his crew standing at the guns ready to fire upon any vessel that 
sho'.iid attempt to get up sail, Waddell kept the rest of his men rowing from 
ship to ship, taking off the crews. Finally all the prisoners were put aboard 
three of the whalers, and the eight empty ships were set afire. It was a 
grand spectacle. On every side were the towering icebergs, whose glassy 
sides reflected the lurid glare from the burning ships. Great black volumes 
of smoke arose from the blazing oil into the clear blue northern sky. The 
ruined men crowded upon the three whalers saw the fruits of their years 
of labor thus destroyed in an afternoon, and heaped curses upon the heads of 
the men who had thus robbed them. What wonder if, in the face of such 
apparently wanton destruction as this, they overlooked the niceties of 
the law of war, and called their captors pirates ! Yet for the men of the 
" Shenandoah " it was no pleasant duty to thus cruise about the world, 
burning and destroying private property, and doing warfare only against 
unarmed people. More than one has left on record his complaint of the utter 

unpleasantnes:; of the duty ; but all fi-lt that they were aiding the cause for 
25 



722 BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



which their brothers at home were fighting, and so they went on in their 
worli of destruction. 

For two months more Waddell continued his depredations in the north- 
ern seas. Many a stout bark from New London or New Bedford fell a prey 
tc his zea' for a cause that was even then lost. For the Confederacy had 
fallen. The last volley of the war had been discharged three months before. 
Of this Capt. Waddell was ignorant, and his warlike operations did not end 
until the captain of a British bark told him of the surrender of Lee and 
Johnston, and the end of the war. To continue his depredations longer 
would be piracy : so Capt. Waddell hauled down hts Confederate flag, and 
heading for Liverpool surrendered his ship to the British authorities, by 
whom it was promptly transferred to the United States. So ended the last 
of the Confederate privateers. 



6^ 




CHAPTER XII. 



WORK OF THE GULF SQUADRON. -THE FIGHT AT THE PASSES OF THE MISSISSIPPI. - 
DESTRUCTION OF THE SCHOONER " JUDAH."-THE BLOCK,\DE OF GALVESTON, ANU 
CAPTURE OF THE "HARRIET LANE." 






m 



'M 



HE naval forces of the United States during the war may be 
roughly classified as the Atlantic fleets, the river navy, and the 
Gulf squadron. The vessels comprising the latter detachment 
enjoyed some light service during the opening months of the 
war; but, as the time went on, the blue-jackets of the Gulf squadron found 
that they had no reason to congratulate themselves on securing an easy 
berth. Their blockading duty was not so arduous as that of their brothers 
along the rugged Atlantic coast ; but they were harassed continually by 
Confederate rams, which would make a dash into the fleet, strike heavy 
blows, and then fly up some convenient river far into the territory of the 
Confederacy. One such attack was made upon the squadron blockading 
the Mississippi in October, 1861. 

Some eighty miles below New Orleans, the Mississippi divides into three 
great channels, which flow at wide angles from each other into the Gulf of 
Mexico. These streams flow between low marshy banks hardly higher than 
the muddy surface of the river, covered with thick growths of willows, and 
infested with reptiles and poisonous insects. The point from which these 
three streams diverge is known as the " Head of the Passes," and it was 

72X 



724 BLUE-JACKi:iS OF '6i. 



here that the blockading squadron of four vessels was stationed. The ships 
swung idly at their moorings for weeks. The pestilential vapors from the 
surrounding marshes were rapidly putting all the crews in the sick bay, 
while the clouds of gnats and mosquitoes that hung about made Jack's life 
a wretched one. They did not even have the pleasurable excitement of 
occasionally chasing a blockade-runner, for the wary merchants of New 
Orleans knew that there was absolutely no hope of running a vessel out 
through a river so effectually blockaded. And so the sailors idled away 
their time, smoking, singing, dancing to the music of a doleful fiddle, boxing 
with home-made canvas gloves that left big spots of black and blue where 
they struck, and generally wishing that "Johnny Reb " would show himself 
so that they might have some excitement, even if it did cost a few lives. 

But while the blue-jackets at the mouth of the river were spending their 
time thus idly, the people in the beleaguered city higher up were vastly 
enraged at being thus cooped up, and were laying plans to drive their 
jailers away. Occasionally they would take a small fleet of flat boats, bind 
them together, and heap them high with tar, pitch, and light wood. Then 
the whole would be towed down the river, set on fire, and drifted down 
upon the fleet. The light of the great fire could be seen far off, and the 
war-ships would get up steam and dodge the roaring mass of flames as it 
came surging down on the swift current. So many trials of this sort failed, 
that finally the people of the Crescent City gave up this plan in disgust. 

Their next plan seemed for a time successful. It was at four o'clock one 
October morning that the watch on the sloop-of-war " Richmond " suddenly 
saw a huge dark mass so close to the ship that it seemed fairly to have 
sprung from the water, and sweeping down rapidly. The alarm was quickly 
given, and the crew beat to quarters. Over the water from the other ships, 
now fully alarmed, came the roll of the drums beating the men to their 
guns. The dark object came on swiftly, and the word was passed from man 
to man, " It's a Confederate ram." And indeed it was the ram " Manassas," 
which the Confederates had been hard at work building in the New Orleans 
ship-yards, and on which they relied to drive the blockading squadron from 
the river. As she came rushing towards the " Richmond," two great lights 
higher up the river told of fire-rafts bearing down upon the fieet, and by the 
fitful glare three smaller gun-boats were seen coming to the assistance of 
the "Manassas." Clearly the Confederates were attacking in force. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 725 



The first volley from the fleet rattled harmlessly from the iron-clad sides 
of the " Manassas ;" and, not heeding it, she swept on and plunged into the 
side of the "Richmond." The great iron prow cut deep into the wooden 
sides of the Union vessel. Heavy oaken timbers were splintered like laths, 
and the men were violently hurled to the deck. As the ram drew away, the 
blue-jackets sprang to their guns and gave her a volley. Some of the shots 
must have penetrated her armor, for she became unmanageable. But the 
darkness prevented the officers of the " Richmond " from seeing how much 
damage they had done, and they did not follow up their advantage. The 
strange panic that the sight of a ram so often brought upon sailors of the 
old school fell on the officers of this squadron, and they began hastily get- 
ting their ships out of the river. By this time four more Confederate 
steamers had come to the aid of the ram, and were cannonading the 
Northern fleet at long range. In their hurried attempt to escape, the 
"Richmond" and the "Vincennes" had run aground. The captain of 
the latter vessel, fearing capture, determined to fire his vessel and escape 
A'ith his crew to the "Richmond." Accordingly he laid a slow-match to 
the magazine, lighted it, and then, wrapping his ship's colors about his 
waist in the most theatrical manner, abandoned his ship. But the plan 
was not altogether a success. As he left the ship, he was followed by a 
grizzled old sailor, who had seen too much fighting to believe in blowing 
up his own ship ; and, when he saw the smoking slow-match, he hastily 
broke off the lighted end, and without saying a word threw it into the 
water. No one observed the action, and the crew of the "Vincennes" 
watched mournfully for their good ship to go up in a cloud of smoke and 
flame. After they had watched nearly an hour, they concluded something 
was wrong, and returned to their old quarters. By this time the enemy 
had given up the conflict, and the United States navy was one ship ahead 
for the old sailor's act of insubordination. The Confederate flotilla returned 
to New Orleans, and reported that they had driven the blockaders away. 
There was great rejoicing in the city : windows were illuminated, and 
receptions were tendered to the officers of the Confederate fleet. But, while 
the rejoicing was still going on, the Union ships came quietly back to their 
old position, and the great river was as securely closed as ever. 

About a month before the fight with the "Manassas," the blue-jackets 
of the North scored for themselves a brilliant success in the harbor of 
I'cnsacola. Tiic frii^^atc "Colorado" was iying outside the harbor of th;it 



726 BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 

city, within clear view of the city front. For some weeks the sailors had 
been greatly interested in watching the activity of people on shore around 
a small schooner that was lying in a basin near the navy-yard. With a 
harbor so thoroughly blockaded as was that of Pcnsacola, there seemed 
really no need of new vessels ; and the haste of the Confederates seemed 
inexplicable, until they saw through their glasses men at work mounting 
a heavy pivot-gun amidships. That made it clear that another privateer 








;^'V>'^. 



lUKT rEN.-5ACuL.A. 

was being fitted out to ravage the seas and burn all vessels flying the 
United States flag. The gallant tars of the "Colorado" determined to go 
in and burn the privateer before she should have a chance to escape. It 
was an undertaking of great peril. Tiie schooner was near the navy-yard, 
where one thousand men were ready to spring to her assistance at the first 
alarm. On the dock fronting the navy-yard were mounted a ten-inch colum- 
biad and a twelve-pounder field-piece, so placed as to command the deck 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 727 

of the schooner and the wharf to which she was moored. Fort Pensacola, 
not far distant, was full of Confederate troops. But the Union sailors 
thought that the destruction of the privateer was of enough importance 
to warrant the risk, and they determined to try the adventure. 

Accordingly, on the first dark night, four boats, containing one hundred 
officers, sailors, and marines, put off from the side of the " Colorado," and 
hf^aded for the town. All was done with the most perfect silence. The 
tholes of the oars were wrapped in cloth to deaden their rattle in the row- 
locks. No lights were carried. Not a word was spoken after the officers 
in muffled tones had given the order, " Give way." Through the dark- 
ness of the night the heavy boats glide on. Every man aboard has his 
work laid out for him, and each knows what he is to do. While the 
main body are to be engaged in beating back the guards, some are to spike 
the guns, and others to fire the schooner in several places. When within 
a hundred yards of the schooner, they are discovered by the sentry. As 
his ringing hail comes over the water, the sailors make no reply, but bend 
to the oars, and the boats fairly leap toward the wharf. Bang ! goes the 
sentry's rifle ; and the men in the hold of the schooner come rushing up 
just as the two boats dash against her side, and the sailors spring like 
cats over the bulwarks. One man was found guarding the guns on the 
wharf, and was shot down. Little time is needed to spike the guns, and 
then those on the wharf turn in to help their comrades on the schooner. 
Here the fighting is sharp and hand to hand. Nearly a hundred men are 
crowded on the deck, and deal pistol-shots and cutlass-blows right and left. 
Several of the crew of the schooner have climbed into the tops, and from 
that point of vantage pour down on the attacking party a murderous fire. 
Horrid yells go up from the enraged combatants, and the roar of the 
musketry is deafening. The crew of the schooner are forced backward, 
j'tep by step, until at last they are driven off the vessel altogether, and 
stand on the wharf delivering a rapid fire. The men from the navy-yard 
are beginning to pour down to the wharf to take a hand in the fight. But 
now a column of smoke begins to arise from the open companionway ; and 
the blue-jackets see that their work is done, and tumble over the -side 
into their boats. It is high time for them to leave, for the Confederates 
are on the wharf in overwhelming force. As they stand there, crowded 
together, the retiring sailors open on them with canister from two 



];lui:-jackkis of '6i. 



howitzers in the boats. Six rounds of this sort of firing sends the 
Confederates looking for shelter; and the sailors pull off through the 
darkness to their ship, there to watch the burning vessel, until, with 
a sudden burst of flame, she is blown to pieces. 

Considering the dashing nature of this exploit, the loss of life was 
wonderfully small. Lieut. Blake, who commanded one of the boats, was 
saved by one of those strange accidents so common in war. As he 
was going over the side of the "Colorado," some one handed him a metal 
flask filled with brandy, to be used for the wounded. He dropped it into 
the lower pocket of his overcoat, but, finding it uncomfortable there, 
changed it to the side pocket of his coat, immediately over his heart. 
When the boats touched the side of the schooner, Blake was one of the 
first to spring into the chains and clamber aboard. Just as he was spring- 
ing over the gunwale, a Confederate sailor pointed a pistol at his heart, and 
fired it ju.st as Blake cut him down with a savage cutlass-stroke. The 
bullet sped true to its mark, but struck the flask, and had just enough 
force to perforate it, without doing any injury to the lieutenant. 
■ The first death in the fight was a sad one. A marine, the first man to 
l)oard the schooner, lost his distinguishing white cap in his leap. His 
comrades followed fast behind him, and, seeing that he wore no cap, took 
him for one of the enemy, and plunged their bayonets deep in his breast, 
killing him instantly. He was known to his comrades as John Smith, 
but on .searching his bag letters were found proving that this was not his 
own name. One from his mother begged him to return home, and give u[) 
his roving life. He proved to be a well-educated young man, who through 
fear of some disgrace had enlisted in the marines to hide himself from the 
world. 

Another dashing event occurred on the Gulf Coast some months later, 
aithough in this instance the Confederates were the assailants and the 
victors. Galveston had for some time been in the hands of the Union 
forces, and was occupied by three regiments of United States troops. In 
the harbor lay three men-of-war, whose cannon kept the town in subjection. 
It had been rumored for some time that the Confederates were planning to 
re-capture the city, and accordingly the most vigilant lookout was kept 
from all the ships. On the ist of January, 1863, at half-past one a.m., as 
the lookout on the "Harriet Lane" was thinking of the new year just 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 729 



ushered in, and wondering whether before the end of that year he could see 
again his cosey Northern home and wife and friends, he saw far up the river 
a cloud of black smoke, that rose high in the air, and blotted from sight 
the shining winter stars. He rubbed his eyes, and looked again. There 
was no mistake : the smoke was there, and rapidly moving toward him. 
Clearly it was a steamer coming down the river ; but whether an armed 
enemy or a blockade-runner, he could not say. He gave the alarm ; and in 
a moment the roll of the drums made the sailors below spring from their 
hammocks, and, hastily -throwing on their clothes, rush on deck. The 
drums beat to quarters, and the crew were soon at their guns. Over the 
water came the roll of the drums from the other ships, and from the troops 
on shore, now all aroused and in arms For thirty hours the Federals had 
been expecting this attack, and now they were fully prepared for it. 

The attacking vessels came nearer, and the men on the Union ships 
strained their eyes to see by the faint starlight what manner of craft they 
had to meet. They proved to be two large river-steamships, piled high 
with cotton-bales, crowded with armed men, and provided with a few field 
pieces. Clearly they were only dangerous at close quarters, and the 
"Lane" at once began a rapid fire to beat them back. But the bad light 
spoiled her gunners' aim, and she determined to rush upon the enemy, and 
run him down. The Confederate captain managed his helm skilfully, and 
the "Lane" struck only a glancing blow. Then, in her turn, the "Lane' 
was rammed by the Confederate steamer, which plunged into her with a 
crash and a shock which seemed almost to lift the ships out of water. The 
two vessels drifted apart, the "Lane" hardly injured, but the Confederate 
with a gaping wound in his bow which sent him to the bottom in fifteen 
minutes. But now the other Confederate came bearing down under a full 
Iiead of steam, and crashed into the " Lane." Evidently the Confederates 
wanted to fight in the old style; for they threw out grappling-irons, lashed 
the two ships side to side, and began pouring on to the deck of the 
Federal ship for a hand-to-hand conflict. Cries of anger and pain, pistol- 
shots, cutlass blows, and occasional roars from the howitzers rose on the 
night air, and were answered by the sounds of battle from the shore, where 
the Confederates had attacked the slender Union garrison. The sinking 
steamer took up a position near the "Lane," and poured broadside after 
broadside upon the struggling Union ship. But where were the other three 



730 BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 

Union vessels all this time ? It seemed as though their commanders had 
lost all their coolness ; for they ran their vessels here and there, now trying 
to do something to help their friends on shore, now making an ineffectual 
attempt to aid the " Harriet Lane." But on board that vessel matters 
were going badly for the Federals. The Confederates in great numbers 
kept pouring over the bulwarks, and were rapidly driving the crew from the 
deck. Capt. Wainwright lay dead at the door of the cabin. Across his 
body stood his young son, his eyes blazing, his hair waving in the wind. 
He held in his right hand a huge revolver, which he was firing without 
aim into the tossing mass of struggling men before him, while he called on 
his dead father to rise and help him. A stray bullet cut off two of his 
fingers, and the pain was too much for the little hero only ten years old ; 
and, dropping the pistol, he burst into tears, crying, " Do you want to kill 
me.'" The blue-jackets began to look anxiously for help toward the other 
vessels. But, even while they looked, they saw all hope of help cut off ; for 
with a crash and a burst of flame the " Westfield " blew up. It turned 
out later, that, finding his ship aground, the captain of the " Westfield " 
had determined to abandon her, and fire the magazine ; but in fixing his 
train he made a fatal error, and the ship blew up, hurling captain and crew 
into the air. The men on the " Harriet Lane " saw that all hope was gone, 
and surrendered their ship. When the captains of the two remaining 
gunboats saw the stars and stripes fall from the peak, they turned their 
vessels' prows toward the sea, and scudded out of danger of capture. At 
the same moment, cheers from the gray-coats on shore told that the Con- 
federates had been successful both by land and sea, and the stars and bars 
once more floated over Galveston. 








f« 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE CAPTURE OF NEW ORLEANS. — FARRAGUTS FLEET PASSES FORT ST. 
PHILIP AND FORT JACKSON. 



m 



HILE Commodore Foote, with his flotilla of gunboats and mor 
tar-boats, was working his way down the Mississippi River, 
making occasional dashes into the broad streams that flow from 
either side into the father of waters. Admiral Farragut, with his 
fleet of tall-sparred, ocean-going men-of-war, was laying his plans for an 
expedition up-stream. But Farragut's first obstacle lay very near the mouth 
of the broad, tawny river that flows for a thousand miles through the centre 
of the United States. New Orleans, the greatest city of the Confederacy, 
stands on the river's bank, only ninety miles from the blue waters of the 
Gulf of Mexico. The Confederate authorities knew the value of this great 
city to their cause, and were careful not to let it go unprotected. Long 
before any thought of civil war disturbed the minds of the people of the 
L'nited States, the F"ederal Government had built below the Crescent City 
two forts, that peered at each other across the swift, turbid tide of the 
Mississippi River. Fort St. Philip and Fort Jackson they were called, 
the latter being named in honor of the stubborn old military hero who 
beat back the British soldiers at the close of the war of 1812 on the 
glorious field of Chalmctte near New Orleans. P'ort Jackson was a huge 

11^ 



732 BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



star of stone and mortar. In its massive walls were great cavernous bomb- 
[iroofs in which the soldiers were secure from bursting shells. It stood 
back about a hundred yards from the levee, and its casemates just rose 
above the huge dike that keeps the Mississippi in its proper channel. 
When the river was high from the sjjring floods of the north, a steamer 
floating on its swift tide towered high above the bastions of the fort. In 
the casemates and on the parapets were mounted seventy-five guns of all 
calibres. By its peculiar shape and situation on a jutting point of land, the 
fort was able to bring its guns to bear upon the river in three directions. 

When the storm of civil war burst upon the country, the Confederates 
of New Orleans were prompt to seize this and Fort St. Philip, that stood 
on the other side of the river. They found Fort Jackson in the state of 
general decay into which most army posts fall in times of peace, and they 
set at work at once to strengthen it. All over the parapet, bomb-proofs, 
and weak points, bags of sand were piled five or six feet deep, making the 
strongest defence known in war. Steamers plied up and down the river, 
bringing provision, ammunition, and new cannon, and soon the fort was 
ready to stand the most determined siege. Fort St. Philip, across the 
river, though not so imposing a military work, was more powerful. It was 
built of masonry, and heavily sodded over all points exposed to fire. It 
was more irregular in shape than Fort Jackson, and with its guns seemed 
to command every point on the river. Both were amply protected from 
storming by wide, deep moats always filled with water. 

In these two forts were stationed troops made up of the finest young 
men of New Orleans. For them it was a gay station. Far removed from 
the fighting on the frontier, and within an easy journey of their homes, 
they frolicked away the first year of the war. Every week gay parties of 
pleasure-seekers from New Orleans would come down ; and the proud de- 
fenders would take their friends to the frowning bastions, and point out how 
easily they could blow the enemy's fleet out of water if the ships ever came 
within range of those heavy guns. But the ships did not come within range 
of the guns for many months. They contented themselves with lying at 
the Head of the Passes, and stopping all intercourse with the outer world, 
until New Orleans began to get shabby and ragged and hungry, and the 
pleasure-parties came less often to the forts, and the gay young soldiers 
saw their uniforms getting old and tattered, but knew not where to get the 
cloth to replace them. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



733 




illlBSiia! 



iiliili:]iiiiii6liliiiiiliiiili;lllill!:iiili! 



In the city no rumble of commerce was heard on the streets. Grass 
;rew on the deserted levee, where in times of peace the brown and white 



734 );ia;i:-j.\cki:i"s of '6i. 



cotton-bales were piled by the thousand, waiting for strong black hands to 
seize and swing them upon the decks of the trim Liverpool packets, that 
lay three or four deep along the river front. The huge gray custom-house 
that stood at the foot of Canal Street no longer resounded with the rapid 
tread of sea-captains or busy merchants. From the pipes of the cotton- 
presses, the rush of the escaping steam, as the ruthless press squeezed 
the great bale into one-third its original size, was no longer heard. Most 
of the great towering steamboats that came rushing down the river with 
stores of cotton or sugar had long since been cut down into squat, power- 
ful gunboats, or were tied up idly to the bank. Across the river, in the 
ship-yards of Algiers, there seemed a little more life ; for there workmen 
were busy changing peaceful merchant vessels into gunboats and rams, 
that were, the people fondly hoped, to drive away the men-of-war at the 
river's mouth and sa\-e the city from starvation. From time to time the 
streets of the city resounded with the notes nf drum and fife, as one after 
the other the militia companies went off to the front and the fighting. 
Then the time came when none were left save the " Confederate Guards," 
old gray-haired men, judges, bankers, merchants, gentlemen of every 
degree, too old for active service at the front, but too young not to 
burn for the grasp of a gun or sword while they knew that their sons 
and grandsons were fighting on the blood-stained soil of Virginia and 
Tennessee. 

But, while the city was gradually falling into desolation and decay, 
[jreparations were being made by the Federal navy for its capture. On 
the 2d of February, 1S62, Admiral Farragut sailed from Hampton Roads 
in his stanch frigate the "Hartford," to take command of a naval 
e.xpedition intended to capture New Orleans. The place of rendezvous 
was Ship Island, a sandy island in the Gulf of Mexico. Here he organized 
his squadron, and started for his post in the Mississippi, below the forts. 
The first obstacle was found at the mouth of the river, where the heavy 
war-vessels were unable to make their way over the bar. Nearly two weeks 
were occupied in the work of lightening these ships until they were able 
to pass. The frigate "Colorado" was unable to get over at all. The "Pen- 
sacola" was dragged through the mud by the sheer strength of other 
vessels of the expedition. While they were tugging at her, a huge hawser 
snapped with a report like a cannon, and the flying ends killed two men 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 735 



and seriously wounded five others. But at last the fleet was safely past 
all obstacles, and Admiral Farragut found himself well established in the 
lower Mississippi, with a force of twenty-five men-of-war, and twenty mortar- 
schooners ; one of the most powerful armadas ever despatched against 
an enemy. Farragut lost no time in getting his ships prepared for the 
baptism of fire which was sure to come. While he was diligently at work 
on his preparations, he was visited by some French and English naval 
officers, who had carefully examined the defences of the Confederates, and 
came to warn him that to attack the forts with wooden vessels, such as 
made up his fleet, was sheer madness, and would only result in defeat. 
" You may be right," answered the brave old sailor, " but I was sent here 
to make the attempt. I came here to reduce or pass the forts, and to 
take New Orleans, and I shall try it on." The foreigners remarked that 
he was going to certain destruction, and politely withdrew. 

In the mean time, the tars on the mortar-fleet were working industriously 
to get their ships in fighting-trim. The topmasts were stripped of their 
sails, and lowered ; the loose and standing rigging strapped to the masts ; 
the spars, forebooms, and gaffs unshipped, and secured to the outside of 
the vessels to avert the danger from splinters, which, in naval actions, is 
often greater than from the shots themselves. From the main-deck every 
thing was removed that could obstruct the easy handling of the tremendous 
mortars; and the men were drilled to skill and alertness in firing the huge 
engines of death. The work was hastened on the mortar-schooners, 
because the plan was to rush them into position, and let them harass 
the Confederates with a steady bombardment, while the ships-of-war were 
preparing for their part in the coming fight. 

The mortar-fleet was under command of Admiral Porter, an able and 
energetic officer. He soon had his ships ready, and began moving them 
into position along the banks of the river, out of sight of the forts. Ta 
further conceal them from the gunners in the forts, he had the masts 
and rigging wrapped with green foliage ; so that, lying against the dense 
thickets of willows that skirt that part of the river, they were invisible. 
Other boats that were in more exposed positions had their hulls covered 
with grass and reeds, so that they seemed a part of the swamp that 
bordered the river. After the line of fire had been obtained by a careful 
mathematical survey, Porter got all his mortar-boats into position, and 



Il^i BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



began his bombardment. The gunners on the mortar-boats could not 
see the forts ; but the range had been calculated for them, and they merely 
fired mechanically. A lookout, perched on the masthead, could sec over 
the low willow-forest, and watch the course of the shells as they rusiicil 
high into the air, and then, falling with a graceful curve, plunged into 
the forts. The firmg was begun on the i6th of April, and was kept up 
with a will. The twenty huge mortars keeping up a constant fire, made 
a deafening roar that shook the earth, and could be heard far up the 
river at Now Orleans, where the people poured out into the streets, and 
gayly predicted defeat for any enemy who should attack " the boys in the 
forts." The forts were not slow in returning the fire ; but as the mortar- 
vessels were hidden, and did not offer very large marks, their fire was 
rather ineffective. Parties of Confederates, old swamp-hunters, and skilled 
riflemen, stole down through the dense thickets, to pick off the crews 
of the mortar-schooners. They managed to kill a few gunners in this 
way, but were soon driven away by the point-blank fire of the support- 
ing gunboats. But all this time the shells were falling thick and fast, 
driving the soldiers to the bomb-])roofs, and tearing to pieces every thing 
unjirotected. One shell set fire to some wooden structures that stood 
on the parade-ground in Fort Jackson ; and, as the smoke and flames rose 
in the air, the gunners down the river thought that the fort was burning, 
and cheered and fired wilh renewed vigor. The shells that burst upon 
the Icx'cc soon cut great trendies in it, so that the mighty Mississippi broke 
through with a rush, and flooded the country all about. But the forts 
seemed as strong and unconquered as ever. 

While the soldiers were crowded together in tlie bomb-proofs to escape 
the flying bits of shell, the sailors on the little fleet of Confederate vessels 
anchored above them were busily engaged in getting ready a fire-raft 
whicli was to float down the ri\-er, and make havoc among the vessels of 
the Union fleet. Two such rafts were prepared ; one of which, an immense 
affair, carrying cords of blazing pine-wood, was sent down in the early 
morning at a time when the vessels were utterly unprepared to defend 
themselves. Luckily it grounded on a sandbar, and burned and crackled 
away harmlessly until it was consumed. This warned Commander Porter 
of the danger in which his mortar-vessels were of a second attack of the 
same nature ; and accordingly he put in readiness one hundred and fifty 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 737 

small boats with picked crews, and well supplied with axes and grapnels, 
whose duty it was to grapple any future rafts, and tow them into a harmless 
position. They did not have long to wait. At sundown that night, Com- 
mander Porter reviewed his little squadron of row-boats as they lay drawn 
np in line along the low marshy shores of the mighty river. The sun 
sank a glowing red ball beneath the line at which the blue waters of the 
gulf and the blue arch of heaven seemed to meet. The long southern twi- 
light gradually deepened into a black, moonless night. The cries of frogs 
and seabirds, and the little flashes of the fireflies, were silenced and blotted 
out by the incessant roar and flash of the tremendous mortars that kept up 
their deadly work. Suddenly in the distance the sky grows red and lurid. 
"The fort is burning! " cry the men at the guns; but from the masthead 
comes the response, " Xo, the fire is on the river. It is another fire-raft." 
The alarm was instantly given to all the vessels of the fleet. Bright 
colored signal-lights blazed on the decks, and the dark, slender cordage 
stood out against the brilliant red and green fires that flickered strangely 
upon the dark wooded banks of the river. Rockets rushed high into the 
air, and, bursting, let fall a shower of party-colored lights that told the 
watchers far down the river that danger was to be expected. Then 
the signal-lights went out, and all was dark and silent save where the lurid 
r;lare of the great mass of fire could be seen floating in the great curves of 
'.lie tortuous river toward the crowded ships. It was a time of intense 
vuspcnse. The little flotilla of fire-boats, organized by Commander Porter 
that day, was on the alert ; and the blue-jackets bent to their oars with a 
will, and soon had their boats ranged along a bend far above the fleet. 
Here they waited to catch the fiery monster, and save the ships. The 
danger came nearer fast. Rapidly the flames increased in volume, until 
the whole surrounding region was lighted up by the glare ; while from the 
floating fire, a huge black column of smoke arose, and blended with the 
clouds that glowed as though they themselves were on fire. When 
the raft came into view around a point, it was seen to be too big for the 
boats to handle unaided, and two gunboats slipped their cables, and started 
for the thing of terror From every side the row-boats dashed at the raft. 
Some grappled it, and the sailors tugged lustily at their oars, seeking to 
drag the mass of flames toward the shore. Then the " Wcstfield," under 
full head of steam, dashed furiously against the raft, crashing in the timbers 



73^ BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 



and sending great clouds of sparks flying high in the air. From her hose^ 
pipes she poured floods of water on the crackling, roaring, blazing mass ; 
while all the time, with her powerful engines, she was pushing it toward 
the shore. 

In the mean time, the sailors from the fleet of small boats were swarm- 
ing upon the raft wherever they could find a foot-hold free from flame. 
Some carrying buckets dashed water upon the flames, some with a.xes cut 
lOOse flaming timbers, and let them float harmlessly down the river. It 
was a fight in which all the men were on one side ; but it was a grand 
sight, and was eagerly watched by those on the imperilled vessels. The 
immediate arena of the conflict was bright as day, but all around was 
gloom. At last the pluck and determination of the men triumph over 
the flames. The raft, flaming, smouldering, broken, is towed out of the 
channel, and left to end its life in fitful flashes on a sandy point. The 
returning boats are greeted with cheers, and soon darkness and silence fall 
upon the scene. The mortars cease their thunderous work for the night ; 
and ere long the only sounds heard are the rush of the mighty waters, 
01 the faint cry of the night birds in the forest. The sentinel pacing 
the deck peers in vain through the gloom. War gives way for a time to 
rest. 

Hardly had the gray dawn begun to appear, when the roll of the drums 
on the decks of the ships was heard ; and, soon after, the roar of the opening 
gun was heard from one of the mortar-schooners. Again the bombardment 
was opened. The twenty boats in the mortar-fleet were divided into three 
divisions, each of which fired for two hours in succession, and then stopped 
for a time to allow the great cannon to cool. Thus a continuous bombard- 
ment was kept up, and the soldiers in the forts were given no time to 
repair the damages caused by the bursting shells. Every mortar was 
fired once in five minutes ; so that one shell was hurled towards the fort 
about every minute, while sometimes three shells would be seen sweeping 
with majestic curves through the air at the same time. The shells weighed 
two hundred and fifteen pounds; and when they were hurled into the air 
by the explosion of twenty pounds of powder, the boat bearing the mortar 
was driven down into the water si.x or eight inches, and the light railings 
and woodwork of buildings at the Balize, thirty miles away, were shattered 
by the concussion. The shells rose high in the air, with an unearthly 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 739 

shriek, and after a curve of a mile and a half fell into or near the forts, 
and, bursting, threw their deadly fragments in all directions. Day after 
day, and night after night, this went on. If the men on the mortar- 
schooners showed bravery and endurance in keeping up so exhausting a 
fire so steadily, what shall we say for the men in the forts who bore up 
against it so nobly .' Before noon of the first day of the bombardment, 
the soldiers of Fort Jackson saw their barracks burned, with their clothing, 
bedding, and several days' rations. Shells were pouring in upon them from 
vessels that they could not see. The smooth-bore guns mounted in the 
embrasures would hardly send a shot to the nearest of the hostile gunboats. 
Then the river broke through its banks, and half the fort was transformed 
into a morass. An ofificer in Fort Jackson said, after the surrender, that in 
two hours over one hundred shells had fallen upon the parade-ground of that 
work, tearing it up terribly. For si.x days this terrible fire was endured; 
and during the latter half of the bombardment the water stood knee deep 
on the gun-platforms, and the gunners worked at their guns until their 
shoes, soaked for days and days, fairly fell from their feet. For bed and 
bedding they had the wet earth, for rations raw meat and mouldy bread. 
If there were glory and victory for the Union sailors, let there at least be 
honor and credit granted the soldiers of the gray for the dogged courage 
with which they bore the terrible bombardment from Porter's flotilla. 

While the mortars were pounding away through those six long days and 
nights, Farragut was getting ready to take his ships past the forts. Union 
scouts and spies had travelled over every foot of land and water about the 
forts ; and the exact strength of the Confederates, and the difficulties to be 
overcome, were clearly known to the Federal admiral. One of the chief 
obstructions was a chain of rafts and old hulks that stretched across the 
channel by which the fleet would be obliged to ascend the river. Under 
cover of a tremendous fire from all the mortars, two gunboats were sent up 
to remove this obstruction. The night was dark and favorable to the 
enterprise, and the vessels reached the chain before they were discovered. 
Then, under a fierce cannonade from the forts, Lieut. Caldwell put off in 3 
row-boat from his vessel, boarded one of the hulks, and managed to break 
the chain. The string of hulks was quickly swept ashore by the swift 
current, and the channel was open for the ascent of the Union fleet. 

On the 23d of April, Farragut determined that his fleet should make the 






L^ 



BREAKING THE CHAIN 



740 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 741 

attempt to get past the forts the following day. Me knew that the enemy 
must be exhausted with the terrible strain of Porter's bombardment, and 
he felt that the opportunity had arrived for him to make a successful dash 
for the upper river. The fleet was all prepared for a desperate struggle. 
Many of the captains had daubed the sides of their vessels with the river 
mud, that they might be less prominent marks for the Confederate gunners. 
The chain cables of all the vessels were coiled about vulnerable parts, or 
draped over the sides amidships to protect the boilers. Knowing that it 
was to be a night action, the gun-decks had been whitewashed ; so that even 
by the dim, uncertain light of the battle lanterns, the gunners could see 
plainly all objects about them. Hammocks and nettings were stretched 
above the decks to catch flying splinters from the spars overhead. Late 
at night the admiral in his longboat was pulled from ship to ship to view 
the ])reparations made, and see that each captain fully understood his 
orders. 

It was two o'clock on the morning of the 24th of April, when the Con- 
federates on the parapets of their forts might have heard the shrill notes 
of fifes, the steady tramp of men, the sharp clicking of capstans, and the 
grating of chain cables passing through the hawse-holes on the ships below. 
Indeed, it is probable that these sounds were heard at the forts, and were 
understood, for the Confederates were on the alert when the ships came 
steaming up the river. 

They formed in a stately line of battle, headed by the "Cayuga." As 
they came up the stream, the gunners in the forts could see the mastheads 
over the low willow thickets that bordered the banks of the stream. The 
line of obstructions was reached and passed, and then the whole furious fire 
of both forts fell upon the advancing ships. Gallantly they kept on their 
way, firing thunderous broadsides from each side. And, while the ships 
were under the direct fire of the forts, the enemy's fleet came dashing 
down the river to dispute the way. This was more to the taste of Farragut 
and his boys in blue. They were tired of fighting stone walls. In the van 
of the Confederate squadron was the ram " Manas.sas," that had created 
such a panic among the blockading squadron a month before. She plunged 
desperately into the fight. The great frigate " Brooklyn " was a prominent 
vessel in the Union line, and at her the ram dashed. The bold hearts on 
the grand old frigate did not seek to avoid the conflict, and the two vessels 



742 BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 



rushed together. The ram struck the " ]5iooklyn " a glancing blow ; and 
the shot from her one gun was returned by a hail of cannon-balls from the 
frigate's tremendous broadside, many of which broke through the iron 
plating. Nothing daunted, the ram backed off and rushed at the frigate 
again. This time she struck full on the frigate's side. The shock was 
terrible. Men on the gun-deck of the ram were hurled to the deck, 
tvith the blood streaming from their nostrils. The frigate keeled over 
farther and farther, until all thought that she would be borne beneath the 
water by the pressure of the ram. All the time the spiteful bow-gun of 
the iron monster was hurling its bolts into her hull. But the blow of the 
ram had done no damage, for she had struck one of the coils of chain that 
had been hung down the " Brooklyn's " side. The two vessels slowly swung 
apart ; and, after a final broadside from the " Brooklyn," the " Manassas " 
drifted away in the pitchy darkness to seek for new adversaries. She was 
not long in finding one; for as the gray dawn was breaking she suddenly 
found herself under the very bows of the " Mississippi," which was bearing 
down upon her and seemed sure to run her down. The captain of the 
"Manassas" was an able steersman, and neatly dodged the blow; but in 
this quick movement he ran his vessel ashore, and she lay there under the 
guns of the " Mississippi," and unable to bring any of her own guns to bear. 
The captain of the frigate was not slow in taking advantage of this chance 
to be revenged for all the trouble she had given the Union fleet ; and he 
took up a good position, and pounded away with his heavy guns at the iron 
monster. The heavy shots crashed through the iron plating and came 
plunging in the portholes, seeking every nook and cranny about the vessel. 
It was too much for men to stand, and the crew of the " Manassas " fled to 
the woods ; while their vessel was soon set on fire with red-hot shots, and 
blew up with a tremendous report soon after. 

In the mean time, the ships of the Union fleet were doing daring work, 
and meeting a determined resistance. The flag-ship " Hartford " was met 
by a tug which pushed a huge burning fire-raft against her sides. There 
the flaming thing lay right up against the port-holes, the flames catching the 
tarred rigging, and running up the masts. Farragut walked his quarter- 
deck as coolly as though the ship was on parade. " Don't flinch from that 
fire, boys," he sang out, as the flames rushed in the port-holes, and drove 
the men from their guns. " There's a hotter fire than that for those who 




:r o 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 74j 

don't do their duty. Give tliat rascally little tug a shot, and don't lot 
her go off with a whole coat." But the tug did get away, after all ; and no 
one can feel sorry that men plucky enough to take an unarmed tug into a 
terrible fight of frigates and ironclads should escape with their lives. The 
men on the " Hartford " fought the flames with hose and buckets, and at 
last got rid of their dangerous neighbor. Then they saw a steamer 
crowded with men rushing toward the flag-ship without firing a shot, and 
evidently intending to board. Capt. Broome, with a crew of marines, was 
working a bow-gun on the " Hartford." Carefully he trained the huge 
piece upon the approaching steamer. He stepped back, stooped for a last 
glance along the sights, then with a quick pull of the lanyard the great 
gun went off with a roar, followed instantly by a louder explosion from the 
attacking steamer. When the smoke cleared away, all looked eagerly for 
the enemy ; but she had vanished as if by magic. That single shot, striking 
her magazine, had blown her up with all on board. 

Much of the hardest fighting was done by the smaller vessels on either 
side. The little Confederate "cotton-clad" "Governor Moore" made a 
desperate fight, dashing through the Union fleet, taking and giving broad- 
sides in every direction. The Union vessel " Varuna " also did daring work, 
and naturally these two ships met in desperate conflict. After exchanging 
broadsides, the " Governor Moore " rammed her adversary, and, while bear- 
ing down on her, received a severe raking fire from the "Varuna." The 
"Governor Moore" was in such a position that none of her guns could be 
brought to bear ; but her captain suddenly depressed the muzzle of his bow- 
gun, and sent a shot crashing through his oivu deck and side, and deep into 
the hull of the "Varuna." The vessels soon parted, but the "Varuna" 
had received her death-wound, and sank in shallow water. The " Governor 
Moore " kept on her way, but was knocked to pieces by the fire from the 
heavy guns of the frigates shortly after. 

And so the battle raged for five hours. To recount in full the deeds 
of valor done, would be to tell the story of each ship engaged, and would 
require volumes. Witnesses who saw the fight from the start were deeply 
impressed by the majesty of the scene. It was like a grand panorama. 
" From almost perfect silence, — the steamers moving through the water 
like phantom ships, — one incessant roar of heavy cannon commenced, 
the Confederate forts and gunboats opening together on the head of our 



744 BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 

line as it came within range. The Union vessels returned the fire as 
they came up, and soon the hundred and seventy guns of our fleet joined 
in the thunder which seemed to shake the very earth. A lurid glare 
was thrown over the scene by the burning rafts ; and, as the bombshells 
crossed each other and exploded in the air, it seemed as if a battle were 
taking place in the heavens as well as on the earth. It all ended as 
suddenly as it commenced." 

While this gigantic contest was going on in the river abreast of the 
forts, the people of New Orleans were thronging the streets, listening to 
the unceasing roar of the great guns, and discussing, with pale faces and 
anxious hearts, the outcome of the fight. " Farragut can never pass our 
forts. His wooden ships will be blown to pieces by their fire, or dashed 
into atoms by the ' Manassas,' " people said. But many listened in silence : 
they had husbands, sons, or brothers in that fearful fight, and who could 
tell that they would return alive .' By and by the firing ceased. Only an 
occasional shot broke the stillness of the morning. Then came the sus- 
pense. Had the fleet been beaten back, or was it above the forts, and 
even now sullenly steaming up to the city ? Everybody rushed for the 
housetops to look to the southward, over the low land through which the 
Mississippi winds. An hour's waiting, and they see curls of smoke rising 
above the trees, then slender dark lines moving along above the treetops. 
" Are they our ships .' " every one cries ; and no one answers until the 
dark lines are seen to be crossed by others at right angles. They are 
masts with yard-arms, masts of sea- going vessels, the masts of the 
invader's fleet. A cry of grief, of fear, of rage, goes up from the house- 
tops. " To the levee ! '' cry the men, and soon the streets resound with 
the rush of many feet toward the river. " The river is crooked, and its 
current swift. It will be hours before the Yankees can arrive : let us burn, 
destroy, that they may find no booty." Let one who was in the sorrowful 
city that terrible April day tell the story. "I went to the river-side. There, 
until far into the night, I saw hundreds of drays carrying cotton out of 
the presses and yards to the wharves, where it was fired. The glare 
of those sinuous miles of flame set men and women weeping and wailing 
thirty miles away, on the farther shore of Lake Pontchartrain. But the 
ne.\t day was the day of terrors. During the night, fear, wrath, and sense 
of betrayal, had run through the people as the tire h.ul run thiuugh the 
cof.on. Vou have seen, perhaps, a family fleeini;. with lamentatio^.s iivi 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 745 

wringing of hands, out of a burning liouse ; multiply it by thousands upon 
thousands: that was New Orleans, though the houses were not burning. 
The firemen were out ; but they cast fire on the waters, putting the 
torch to the empty ships and cutting them loose to float down the river. 

" Whoever could go was going. The great mass that had no place 
to go to, or means to go with, was beside itself. 'Betrayed! betrayed!' 
it cried, and ran in throngs from street to street, seeking some vent, some 
victim for its wrath. I saw a crowd catch a poor fellow at the corner 
of Magazine and Common Streets, whose crime was that he looked like 
a stranger and might be a spy. He was the palest living man I ever saw. 
They swung him to a neighboring lamp-post ; but the Foreign Legion was 
patroling the town in strong squads, and one of its lieutenants, all green 
and gold, leaped with drawn sword, cut the rope, and saved the man. 
This was one occurrence ; there were many like it. I stood in the rear 
door of our store. Canal Street, soon after re-opening it. The junior of 
'.he firm was within. I called him to look toward the river. The masts 
of the cutter 'Washington' were slowly tipping, declining, sinking — down 
she went. The gunboat moored next her began to smoke all over and 
Uien to blaze. My employers lifted up their heels and left the city, left 
their goods and their affairs in the hands of one mere lad — no stranger 
would have thought I had reached fourteen — and one big German porter. 
I closed the doors, sent the porter to his place in the Foreign Legion, 
and ran to the levee to see the sights. 

"What a gathering! — the riff-raff of the wharves, the town, the gutters. 
Such women I such wrecks of women ! and all the juvenile rag-tag. 
The lower steamboat-landing, well covered with sugar, rice, and molasses, 
was being rifled. The men smashed ; the women scooped up the smash- 
ings. The river was overflowing the top of the levee. A rain-storm began 
to threaten. 'Are the Yankee ships in sight.'' I asked of an idler. He 
pointed out the tops of their naked masts as they showed up across the 
huge bend of the river. They were engaging the batteries at Camp 
Chalmette, the old field of Jackson's renown. Presently that was over. 
Ah, me! I see them now as they come slowly round Slaughterhouse Point, 
intcj full view : silent, so grim and terrible, black with men, heavy with 
deadly portent, the long banished stars and stripes flying against the 
frowning sky. Oh for the 'Mississippi,' the 'Mississippi!' Just then 



'746 BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



she <;a'fne down upon them. But how ? Drifting helplessly, a mass of 
iflamfis. 

" The crowds on the levee howled and screamed with rage. The swarm- 
ing decks answered never a word ; but one old tar on the ' Hartford,' 
standing with lanyard in hand, beside a great pivot-gun, so plain to view 
I hat you could see him smile, silently patted its big black breech and 
blandly grinned." 

As the masts of the fleet came up the river, a young man stepped out 
upon the roof of the City Hall, and swiftly hoisted the flag of the State of 
Louisiana. When the ships came up, two officers were sent ashore to de- 
mand the surrender of the city ; and shoulder to shoulder the two old sailors 
marched through a howling, cursing mob to the City Hall. The mayor 
refused to surrender the city, saying that Farragut already had captured 
it. The officers went back to their ships, and the flag still floated. Two 
days later the officers, with a hundred sailors and marines, returned and 
demanded that the flag be hauled down. No one in the city would tear it 
down, and the Federals went up to the roof to lower it themselves. The 
street and surrounding housetops were crowded with a hostile people, all 
armed. No one could tell that the fall of the flag would not be followed 
by a volley from the undisciplined populace. The marines in front of the 
building stood grouped about two loaded howitzers that bore upon the 
darkly muttering crowd. Violence was in the air. As the two officers 
rose to go to the roof, the mayor, a young Creole, left the room and de- 
scended the stairs. Quietly he stepped out into the street, and without a 
word stood before one of the howitzers, his arms folded, eying the gunner, 
who stood with lanyard in hand, ready to fire at the word of command. 
The flag fell slowly from the staff. Not a sound arose from the crowd. 
All were watching the mayor, who stood coldly looking on death. The 
I'ederal officers came down carrying the flag. A few sharp commands, 
and the marines tramped away down the street, with the howitzers clanking 
behind them. The crowd cheered for Mayor Monroe and dispersed, and 
New Orleans became again a city of the United States. 




CHAPTER XIV. 



ALONG THE MISSISSIPP/. — FORTS JACKSON AND ST, PHILIP SURRENDER. — THE BATTLE 
AT ST. CHARLES. —THE RAM " ARKANSAS." — BOMBARDMENT AND CAPTURE OF PORT 
HUDSON. 




HILE New Orleans was thus excited over the capture of the city, 
the soldiers in the forts below were debating as to the course they 
should adopt. They had not surrendered ; and although the great 
bastions were pounded out of shape by the heavy guns of the fleet, 
yet they were still formidable defences, giving perfect security to the men 
in the bomb-proofs. But their case was hopeless : for Farragut was at New 
Orleans, and could cut off their supplies ; while Porter, with his mortar-boats, 
was below them, putting escape out of the question. Every now and then 
a big shell would drop on the parade, and its flying pieces would remind the 
garrison that their enemies were getting impatient. After waiting a day or 
two. Porter sent a lieutenant with a flag of truce to the fort, calling upon 
the Confederate commander to surrender the two forts and the shattered 
remnant of the Confederate navy. He complimented the Confederates 
upon their gallant defence, but warned them, that, should they refuse to 
surrender, he would recommence his bombardment with new vigor. The 
Confederates refused to surrender until they hoard from New Orleans ; and 
the next day the monotonous thunder of the heavy mortars began again, and 

747 



"48 BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



again the heavy shells began falling thick and fast upon the forts. Wearily 
the gray-coated soldiers settled down to continue what they felt must be a 
useless defence. The officers did their best to inspirit the men ; but all 
knew that a surrender must come before long and at last the men muti- 
nously left their guns, and said they would fight no longer. They had borne 
without flinching a terrible bombardment, and now they felt that to fight 
longer would be a foolish sacrifice of life. Many left the forts, and plunged 
into the woods to escape the terrible shells. Gen. Duncan saw that all was 
lost, and on the night of the 28th of April sent an officer to the fleet announ- 
cing the surrender. On the following day Porter proceeded up-stream with 
his squadron, and anchored off the fort. A boat, manned by si.x trim sailors 
in dress uniforms, put off, and soon returned, bringing the commander of 
the defeated forces and two or three officers. They were received on the 
" Harriet Lane," and Commodore Porter had made great preparations for 
the meeting. The crews of al! the vessels were dressed in snow-white 
mustering-suits, and the officers in brass-buttoned blue coats and white 
trousers. The decks were scrubbed, and all traces of the fight cleared 
away. As the Confederate officers came up to the fleet, one of them, a 
former lieutenant in the Union navy, said, " Look at the old navy. I feel 
proud when I see them. There are no half-breeds there : they are the 
simon-pure." As the Confederates came over the side. Porter stood, 
with his officers, ready to receive them. The greatest politeness was 
observed on either side ; and Porter writes, " Their bearing was that of 
men who had gained a victory, instead cf undergoing defeat." While 
the papers of capitulation were being signed, a message came from the deck 
that the huge Confederate ironclad " Louisiana " was drifting down upon 
them, a mass of flames, and there was great danger that she would blow up 
in the midst of the Union fleet. "This is sharp practice, gentlemen," said 
I'ortcr, "and some of us will perhaps be blown up ; but I know what to do 
If you can stand what is coming, we can ; but I will make it lively for those 
people if anybody in the flotilla is injured." 

" I told Lieut. Wainwright to hail the steamer ne.xt him," writes Capt. 
Porter, "and tell her captain to pass the word for the others to veer out all 
their riding-chains to the bitter end, and stand by to sheer clear of the burn- 
ing ironclad as she drifted down. I then sat down to the table, and said, 
'Gentlemen, we will proceed to sign the capitulation.' I handed the paper 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 749 



to Gen. Duncan, and looked at the Confederate officers to see liovv they 
would behave under the circumstances of a great ironclad dropping down 
on them, all in flames, with twenty thousand pounds of powder in her maga- 
zines. For myself, I hoped the fire would not reach the powder until the 
sliip had drifted some distance below us. My greatest fear was that she 
would run foul of some of the steamers. 

"While I was thinking this over, the ofificers were sitting as coolly as 
if at tea-table among their friends. 

"Just then there was a stir on deck, a kind of swaying of the vessel to 
and fro, a rumbling in the air, then an e.xplosion which seemed to shake the 
heavens. The 'Harriet Lane' was thrown two streaks over, and every 
thing in the cabin was jostled from side to side ; but not a man left his seat, 
or shovv'ed any intention of doing so. 

" I was glad that I had signed before the explosion took place, as I would 
not have liked to have my autograph look shaky." 

The destruction of the "Louisiana" was a bit of trickery on the part of 
the Confederate naval officers, which Farragut punished by sending them 
North as close prisoners, while the army officers were granted freedom under 
parol. So ended the Confederate control over the mouth of the Missis- 
sippi ; and Porter, after waiting long enough to see a blue-coat garrison in 
Forts St. Philip and Jackson, started up the river to rejoin his chief in New 
Orleans. 

But, on reaching the city, he found that the energetic admiral had 
already started out to clear the river of the Confederate batteries that lined 
it on either side as far up as Vicksburg. This was a service of no little 
danger, and one bringing but little satisfaction ; for no sooner had the gun- 
boats left one point, from which by hard firing they had driven the Confed- 
erates, than the latter would return in force, build up again their shattered 
earthworks, mount new guns, and be once more ready for battle, i^ut more 
powerful than these little one or two gun-batteries were the Confederate 
works at Port Hudson, the destruction of which was absolutely necessary for 
further Union successes on the great river. Between Port Hudson and 
Vicksburg, the river was completely under tiie control of the Confederates ; 
and it was a powerful gunboat that could hope to navigate that stretch of 
water unharmed. Farragut determined to att-ack Port Hudson, and set the 
14th of March, 1863, as the date for the action. 



750 BLUE-JACKETS OF '6t. 

Port Hudson batteries were perched on a high bluff that overlooks one 
of those abrupt curves around which the current of the Mississippi River 
sweeps with such terrific force. The heavy guns bore down upon a point 
at which the ships would almost inevitably be swept out of their course by 
the swift stream, and where the river was filled with treacherous shifting 
shoals. Naval officers all agreed that to pass those batteries was a more 
difficult task than had been the passage of the forts below New Orleans ; yet 
Farragut, eager to get at the stronghold of the foe in Vicksburg, determined 
to make the attempt. The mortar-vessels were stationed below to drive the 
enemy from his guns with well-directed bombs ; while the fleet, led by 
the stanch old " Hartford," should make a bold dash up the river. 

Night fell upon the scene ; and the ships weighed anchor, and started 
upon their perilous voyage. To the side of each man-of-war was bound a 
gunboat to tow the great vessel out of danger in case of disaster. Silently 
the long string of vessels swept upward towards the batteries ; but, as the 
"Hartford" came into range, the watchful Confederates gave the alarm, 
and the nearest battery at once opened fire. Then from Porter's mortar- 
schooners far down the river came an answering roar ; and, as ship after 
ship came up into range, she opened with shot and shell upon the works. 
On the dark river-banks great alarm fires were kindled, lighting up the 
water with a lurid glare, and making the ships clearly visible to the Confed- 
erate gunners. But soon the smoke of battle settled down over all ; and 
gunners, whether on shore or on the ships, fired at random. The "Hart- 
ford " led the way, and picked out the course ; and the other vessels followed 
carefully in her wake. In the mizzen-top of the flag-ship was stationed a 
cool old river pilot, who had guided many a huge river steamer, freighted 
with precious lives, through the mazy channels of the Mississippi. There, 
high above the battle-smoke, heedless of the grape-shot and bits of flying 
shell whistling around him, he stood at his post, calmly giving his orders 
til rough a speaking-tube that led to the wheel-room. Now and then the 
admiral on the deck below would call up, asking about the pilot's safety, and 
was always answered with a cheery hail. But though the " Hartford " 
went by the batteries, heedless of the storm and lead poured upon her, she 
found herself alone, when, after firing a last gun, she swept into the ckar 
air and tranquil water out of range of the enemy's guns. She waited some 
time for the other ships to come up, while all on board watched eagerly, 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6r. 751 

save those who lay moaning on the surgeon's tables in the cockpit below. 
The night wore on, and all on board were consumed with anxiety for the 
fate of the vessels that had dropped behind. The lookout in the tops 
reported that he could see far down the river a bright red light that could 
only be caused by a burning vessel. It proved to be the steamer "Missis- 
sippi," that had grounded under the guns of the batteries, and had been fired 
and abandoned by her crew. But of this the admiral knew nothing ; and 
when, after an hour or two, he heard the dull, heavy boom of an explosion, 
l*; went sadly to his cabin, fearing that the lives of many valiant sailors had 
been sacrificed. There was no way to communicate with the fleet below, 
and it was not until days afterward that the admiral learned how his fleet 
had been beaten back by the heavy guns of the Confederates and the swift 
current of the river. The " Richmond " grounded at a point within easy 
range of the batteries, and her crew fought desperately while shell after- 
shell went crashing through her hull. They saw the other vessels of the 
fleet go drifting by helpless in the mighty current of the river, but they 
faltered not in their brave defence until they saw their ship a wreck and in 
flames. Then leaving their dead comrades with the " Richmond " for a 
funeral pyre, they escaped to the shore, and threaded their way through 
miles of morasses and dense thickets until they came to the mortar-boats, 
where they found refuge and rest. And so that first attack on Port Hudson 
ended with Farragut above the batteries, and his ships below. It haf' only 
served to prove, that, safe in their heavy earthworks, the Confederates could 
defy any attack by ships alone. This fact was clear to the Union author! 
ties, and they began massing troops about the hostile works. Two months 
later. Porter's mortar-boats, the frigates and gunboats, and the batteries and 
muskets of an immense body of troops, opened on the works. While the 
hcavy fire was being kept up, the Union armies were closing in, digging 
trenches, and surroutiding the Confederates on all sides. The firing came 
to be short-range work and very deadly. " To show you what cool and 
desperate fighting it was," says a Confederate, "I had at least twenty-five 
shots at Federals not two hundred feet away. In one instance I fired ui)on 
a lieutenant who was urging on his men. I wounded him in his left arm. 
He fired at me with his revolver, and sent a bullet through my caji. Next 
time "I hit him in the hip, and he fell ; but, while I was reloading, he raised 
himself up, and shot the man next to me through the head. The officer 



752 BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



was so close to me that I could tell the color of his eyes, and detect a small 
scar on his face." 

This sort of work continued for weeks, with occasional charges by tiie 
Federals. Farragut's fleet kept up its bombardment, but did little damage. 
One of the Confederate soldiers said, some time after the war, " One can 
get used to almost any thing. After the first two or three days, we took 
the bombardment as part of the regular routine. Pieces of shell were 
continually flying about, and it was the regular thing for a bomb to drop 
down among us at intervals. I have seen them come down within fifty 
feet of a sentinel, and throw up a wagon load of dirt, without his even turn- 
ing his head. We had but few men hurt by the artillery-fire. I do not 
believe we averaged one man hit for every thousand pounds of metal 
thrown. I remember that one day I counted thirteen shells and bombs 
hurled at the spot where I was posted before we had a man hurt, and he 
was only slightly wounded." Naturally, such work as this could not drive 
the Confederates from their trenches ; and the fleet soon concluded to leave 
the army to capture Port Hudson, while the ships steamed on up the river 
loward Vicksburg. The army kept up the siege for weeks, until the Con- 
federates, hearing of the fall of Vicksburg, surrendered. 

While the Union fleet was thus fighting its way up to Vicksburg, the 
Confederates were workmg away at a great ram that they were building 
in a secluded spot far up the Yazoo River. Work on the ram was being 
pushed with the greatest energy ; and the Union sailors, in their ships oi. 
the Mississippi, listened daih' to the stories of escaping negroes, and won 
dercd when the big ship would come down and give them a tussle. The 
crew of the ram were no less impatient for the fray ; for they were tired 
of being hidden away up a little river, plagued by mosquitoes and gnats. 
The dark shades of the heavy forests were seldom brightened by a ray of 
sun. The stream was fidl of alligators, that lay lazily on the banks all 
day, and bellowed dismally all night. The chirp of a bird was rarely 
licard. In its place were the discordant screams of cranes, or hisses of the 
moccasins or cotton-mouths. When at last the carpenters' clatter had 
ceased, and the ram, ready for action, lay in the little river, the crew were 
mustered on the deck, and told that the new boat had been built to clear 
the Union vessels from the Mississippi, and that purpose should be ca'rricd 
out. No white flag was to flutter from that flag-staff; and she should sink 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 753 

with all her crew before she would surrender. Any sailor who feared to 
enter upon such a service mig!it leave the ship at once. No one left ; and 
the " Arkansas " started down the river to look for an enemy. She was not 
long in finding one. At the mouth of the Yazoo floated three Union gun- 
boats, — the " Carondelet," the "Tyler," and the "Queen of the West." 
As the ram came down into sight, her men heard the roll of the drums on 
the decks of the hostile vessels. The gunboats quickly opened fire, which 
was as promptly returned by the " Arkansas ; " and, as she came swiftly 
rushing down the stream, the three vessels fled before her. The men on 
the ram were all new recruits, and made awkward work of the firing; but 
as she came to close quarters she sent her shells crashing into the Union 
ships, while the shot she received in return rattled harmlessly off her 
steel-mailed sides. The " Carondelet " was the first vessel to come to grief. 
She had hardly fired four shots when a heavy solid shot crashed throug'i 
her side, and rattled against the most delicate part of the engine. She 
was helpless at once ; and hardly had this damage been reported when ;, 
second shot came with a burst into an open port, killed five men, and brok^, 
its way out the other side. In ten minutes her decks were slippery with 
Llood, and thick slrewn with wounded and dead men. The current of the 
river drifted her upon a sandbar ; and she lay there helplessly, now and 
again answering the galling fire of her foe with a feeble shot. Pouring in 
a last broadside, the " Arkansas " steamed past her, and, disregarding the 
other two vessels, headed for Vicksburg, where she knew her aid was 
sorely needed. 

The news of her coming preceded her; and, when she came within sight 
of the steeples of the city, at least ten thousand people were watching her 
progress, and wondcrmg whether she could pass by the Federal batteries and 
through the Federal fleet. The Federal fleet was all ready for her, and pre- 
pared such a gauntlet for the " Arkan.sas " as had never been run by any 
vessel. As she came within range, every Union gun that could be brought 
to bear opened ; and shot and shell rained from shore-batteries and marine 
guns upon the tough hide of the ram. As she sped by the vessels, they gave 
her their broadsides, and the effect was tremendous, As the huge Iron balls 
struck the ship, she keeled far over; and to her crew inside, it seemed as 
though she was being lifted bodily out of the water. Not a shot broke 

through the armor ; but the terrible concussions knocked men down, and 
2fi 



754 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



made blood come pouring from their nostrils. I"or new men, her crew fought 
well and bravely; though two fell flat on their faces, afraid to lift their heads, 
lest they be taken off by a shell. 

When it was seen that the " Arkansas " was likely to pass through the 
lines unscathed, the Federals tried to blockade her way ; but she deviated 
not an inch from her path. The vessel that stood before her had to move 
aside, or take the chances of a blow from her terrible iron beak. She came 
straight to the centre of the fleet before opening fire ; and when her port- 
holes were opened, and the big guns peered out, they found plenty of tar- 




THE "ARKANSAS" UNDER KIKE. 



gets. Her first volley knocked a gunboat to pieces; and in another minute 
she had crashed into the side of a Union ram, sending that unlucky craft 
ashore for repairs. But the storm of solid shot was too much for her ; anc 
she was forced to seek shelter under the bluffs, where the heavy guns of the 
Confederate shore-batteries compelled the Union ships to keep a respectful 
distance. Here she lay for several weeks, beating off every assault of the 
Federals, and making a valuable addition to the defences of the city. But, 
in an evil hour, the Confederate authorities decided to send her down the 
river to recapture Baton Rouge. When her journey was but half completed 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



she was pounced upon by several United States vessels, with the " Essex " 
in the lead. Her engines breaking down, she drifted upon a sand-bank ; and 
the attacking ships pounded her at their leisure, until, with the fire bursting 
from her port-holes, she was abandoned by her crew, and blazed away until 
her career was ended by the explosion of her magazine. She had given the 
Federal fleet some hard tussles, but beyond that had done nothing of 
the work the Confederates so fondly hoped of her. 

While the flotilla of gunboats, led by the "Essex," were planning for the 
destruction of the "Arkansas," a small naval expedition, consisting of threq 
gunboats, was threading its way up the narrow channel of the White River 
in search of some Confederate batteries said to be on the banks. Within 
twelve hours from the start, the sailors learned from a ragged negro, whom 
they captured on the shore, that the Confederates had powerful batteries 
only five miles farther up, and that the river channel was obstructed by 
sunken vessels. Anchor was cast for the night; and in the morning the 
troops accompanying the expedition were landed, and plunged into the forest 
with the plan of taking the fort by a rush from the rear. The gunboats 
began a slow advance up the river, throwing shells into the woods ahead of 
them. The blue-jackets kept carefully under cover ; for, though they could 
see no foe, yet the constant singing of rifle-bullets about the ships proved 
that somewhere in those bushes were concealed sharp-shooters whose pow- 
der was good and whose aim was true. The " Mound City " w^s leading 
the gunboats, and had advanced within six hundred yards of the enemy's 
guns, when a single shot, fired from a masked battery high up the bluffs, 
rang out sharply amid the rattle of small-arms. It was the first cannon-shot 
fired by the Confederates in that engagement, and it was probably the most 
horribly deadly shot fired in the war. It entered the port-casemate forward, 
killed three men standing at the gun, and plunged into the boiler. In an 
instant the scalding steam came hissing out, filling the ship from stem m 
stern, and horribly scalding every one upon the gun-deck. The deck 
was covered with writhing forms, and screams of agony rang out above 
the harsh noise of the escaping steam and the roar of battle outside. 
Many were blown overboard ; more crawled out of the port-holes, and 
dropped into the river to escape the scalding steam, and struggling in 
the water were killed by rifle-balls or the fragments of the shells that 
were bursting all around. The helpless gunboat turned round and round 



BLUE-JACKEIS OF '6i. 



in the stream, and drifted away, carrying a crew of dead and dying 
men. So great was tlic liorror of the scene, that one of the officers, 
himself unliurt, who saw his comrades thus tortured all about him, went 
insane. 

While this scene was going on before the fort, the Union troops had 
come up behind it, and with a cheer rushed over the breastworks, and drove 
the garrison to surrender. The Confederate banner fell from the staff, 
and Ihe stars and stripes went up in its place. But how great was the 
price that the Federals had to pay for that victory ! That night, with 
muffled drums, and arms reversed, the blue-jackets carried to the grave 
fifty-nine of their comrades, who twelve hours before were active men. 
With three volleys of musketry the simple rites over the sailors' graves 
were ended ; and those who were left alive, only said with a sigh, "It is the 
fortune of war." 




^r 



*^ ^1 




^'^ c^ I 7 







CHAPTER XV. 



ON TO VICKSBURG.— BOMBARDMENT or THE CONFEDERATE STRONGHOLD. 
CRUISE IN THE FORESTS. 



fela> 



HILE the smaller rrj^mboats were thus making dashes into the 
enemy's country, destroying batteries and unfinished war-vessels, 
and burning salt-works, the heavier vessels of the fleet were 
being massed about Vicksburg, and were preparing to aid the 
army in reducing that city to subjection. We need not describe the way 
in which Gen. Grant had been rushing his troops toward that j)oint, how 
for weeks his engineers had been planning trenches and approaches to the 
Confederate works, until toward the middle part of June, 1863, the people 
in that city found themselves hemmed in by a huge girdle of trenches, 
baticries, and military camiJS. Gen. I'emberton, with his army of Confeder- 
ate soldiers, had been forced backwaid from point after point, until at last 
he found himself in Vicksburg, with the |)rospect of a long siege before 
him, and no way to get past the inexorable lines of blue that surroundc<l 
him. It is true that he had a wonderfully strong position, and many were 
the tongues that said Vickslnirg could never be taken. But thougii 
stronger tiian Sebastopol, stronger than the Rock of Gibraltar, Vicksburg 
was destined to fall before that mighty army that encircled it, and was 
slowly starving the city into subjection. 

757 



758 BLUE-JACKETS f)F '6i. 



But the Unioxi soldiers, looking from their camps toward the Confederate 
citadel, saw that they had before them some severe work before that flag 
that flaunted over the city should be replaced by the stars and stripes. 
The city stands on a towering bluff high above the eastern bank of the 
Mississippi River. On that frowning height the busy hands of Pem- 
berton's soldiers had reared mighty batteries, that commanded the Missis- 
sippi for miles up and down stream. To think of carrying the works by 
assault, was madness. Sherman had tried, and was beaten back with 
terrible loss. Then Grant, with nearly twenty thousand men, and with the 
co-operation of the river-flotilla, came upon the stage, and determined to 
take the city though it kept him at bay for months. 

All imaginable plans were tried to get the army below the city ; for 
Grant's command had come down from Cairo, and were at the northern 
and most impregnable side of the enemy's works. As at Island No. lo, 
a sharp bend in the river made a long peninsula right under the Con- 
federates' guns. Grant, remembering the plan adopted before, set to work 
to cut a canal through the peninsula, so that the gunboats and transports 
might get below the forts. Twelve hundred negroes worked with a will 
u|)on this ditch for weeks. Then came a terrible rain-storm : the swollen, 
muddy torrent of the river broke in upon the unfinished canal, and that 
work was wasted. Then a new plan was suggested, this time by Com- 
modore David Porter, who all through the war showed the greatest delight 
in taking his big gunboats into ditches where nothing larger than a frog or 
musk-rat could hope to navigate, and then bringing them out again safe 
after all. 

The country back of Vicksburg was fairly honeycombed with shallow 
lakes, creeks, and those sluggish black streams called in the South bayous. 
Porter had been looking over this aqueous territory for some time, and had 
sent one of his lieutenants off in a steam-launch to see what could be done 
111 that network of ditches. When the explorer returned, he brought cheer- 
ing news. He was confident that, with tugs and gangs of axemen clearing 
the way, the gunboats could be taken up the Yazoo River, then into a 
wide bayou, and finally through a maze of small water-ways, until they 
should reach .the Mississippi again below the Vicksburg batteries. Then 
the transports could follow, the troops could march down the other side 
of the river, be met by the transports, ferried across, and take Vicksburg 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6r. 759 

on the flank. It was a beautiful plan ; and Porter went to Grant with it, 
full of enthusiasm. 

Gen. Grant considered the matter for some time, but finally gave his 
consent, and detailed a number of blue-coated soldiers to aid Porter's blue- 
jackets in the work. They first cut the levees, and let the mighty tide 
of the Mississippi sweep in, filling the bayous to the brim, and flooding all 
the country round about. Then the gunboats plunged in, and were borne 
along on the rushing tide until they brought up, all standing, against the 
trunks of trees, or had their smoke-stacks caught by overhanging branches. 

Then came the tug of war ; and the axemen were called to the front, 
and set to work. They chopped their way along for some distance ; the 
rapid current from the river banging the vessels against the trees and 
stumps, until all the standing rigging and light cabins were swept away. 
After a good deal of work they saw before them a broad river, wide enough 
for two vessels to steam abreast. Soon they drifted out into it, and the 
commanding officer sang out cheerily, "On to Vicksburg, boys, and nr 
more trees to saw." And so they steamed on, thinking how neatly the\ 
should take the "gray-coats" in the rear, when suddenly a bend in the 
river showed them, just ahead, a fort in the middle of the river, with 
the channel blocked on either side. That was a surprise. The works were 
new, and the water was still muddy about the sunken steamers. Clearly 
the wily Pemberton had heard of this inland naval c.\[iedition, and was 
determined to check it effectually. 

The gunboats backed water, and crowded in confused groups. The 
gunners in the fort took hurried aim, and pulled the lanyards of their 
cannon, forgetting that those pieces were not loaded. It was hard to tell 
which party was the more e.xcited at the unexpected meeting. This gave 
the blue-jackets a chance to collect their thoughts, and in a minute or two the 
gunboats opened fire ; but they were soon convinced that the fort wa^ 
too much for them, and they turned and crawled back through the wood'; 
to <hc fleet above Vicksburg. Pemberton scored one point for successful 
strategy. 

but, even while this expedition was working its way back to the station 
of the vessels on the Mississippi, Porter was starting another through a 
second chain of watcr-cour.scs that he had discovered. This time he was 
so sure ot getting into the rear of Vicksburg, that he took four of his bijr 



760 BLUE-JACKHTS OF '6r. 



iron-clads, and two liglit mortar-boats built especially for work in the woods. 
Gen. Shermaii. with a strong army-force, marched overland, keeping up with 
the gunboats. Admiral Porter, in his Memoirs, gives a graphic picture of 
this expedition. Back of Vicksburg the country is low, and intersected 
in every direction by narrow, tortuous bayous, lined on either side by 
gloomy morasses or majestic forests. Into these little-known water- 
courses Porter boldly \eC his ponderous iron-clads ; while Sherman, with a 
detachment of troops, advanced along the shore, keeping as near the 
fiotilla as possible. Seluo.n have naval vessels been detailed upon so 
strange a service. For days they steamed on under the spreading 
branches of trees, that often spanned the bayous in a mighty arch over- 
head, shutting out all sunlight. For a time this navigation of placid, 
jhady water-ways was pleasant enough ; but, as they penetrated farther 
into the interior, the jackies sighed for the blue waters of the ocean, or 
even for the turbid current of the Mississippi. The heavy foliage that 
^ave so grateful a shade also harbored all sorts of animals; and coons^ 
rats, mice, and wildcats, that had been driven to the trees for shelter 
during the prevailing high water, peered down upon the sailors, and often 
dropped sociably down upon the decks of the vessels gliding beneath. 

At some portions of the voyage the flotilla seemed to be steaming 
through the primeval forest. The bayou was but a few feet wider than 
the gunboats, and its banks were lined by gnarled and knotted old 
veterans of the forest, — live oaks, sycamore, and tupelo gum trees that 
had stood in majestic dignity on the banks of the dark and sullen stream 
for centuries. Sometimes majestic vistas would open ; broad avenues 
carpeted with velvet turf, and walled in by the massive tree trunks, 
extending from the banks of the stream far back into the country. 
Again, the stately forests would be replaced by fields of waving corn or 
ice, with the tops of a row of negro cabins c: the columned front of a 
ivlanter's house showing in the distance. Then, as the flotilla steamed on, 
this fair prospect would disappear, and be replaced by noisome cypress 
brakes, hung thick with the funereal Spanish moss, and harboring beneath 
the black water many a noxious reptile. 

So through the ever-changing scenery the gunboats moved along, 
making but little progress, but meeting with no serious obstacle, until 
one morning there appeared on a bit of high ground, some yards in 



BLUR-JACKETS OF '6i. 761 



advance of the leading gunboat, an army officer mounted on an old white 
horse. It was Gen. Sherman, and his troops were in camp near by. He 
greeted the naval forces cheerily, and, rallying Porter on the amphibious 
service into which his gunboats had been forced, warned him that he 
would soon have not a smoke-stack standing, nor a boat left at the davits. 

"So much the belter," said the undaunted admiral. "All I want is 
an engine, guns, and a hull to float them. As to boats, they arc very 
much in the way." 

A short time only was spent in consultation, and then Sherman with 
his forces left the bayou and plunged into the interior, first warning 
Porter that he would have a hard time getting any farther, even if the 
enemy did not come down and surround him. But Porter was not 
the man to abandon the advance, so long as there was water enough to 
Hoat his gunboats. Besides, he had gained some ideas regarding naviga- 
tion in the forests, that enabled him to move his fleet forward with more 
"elerity than at first. When a tree blocked the course of the ironcladS; 
they no longer stopped to clear it away by work with the axes ; but 
clapping on all steam, the powerful rams dashed at the woody obstruction, 
and with repeated blows soon knocked it out of the way. 

Soon after leaving Sherman, Porter saw that the difficulties he had 
thus far met and conquered were as nothing to those which he had yet 
to encotinter. The comparatively broad stream up which he had been 
steaming came to an end, and his further progress must be thi^ough 
Cypress Bayou, a canal just forty-si.\ feet wide. The broadest gunboat 
was forty-two feet wide, and to enter that narrow stream made retreat 
out of the question : tiicre could be no turning round to fly. The levees 
rose on either side of the narrow canal high above the decks of the iron- 
clads, so that the cannon could not be sufficiently elevated to do effective 
work in case of an attack. But there were nine feet of water in the great 
ditch ; and that was enough for Porter, who pressed boldly on. 

The country into which the combined military and naval expedition 
was advancing was in truth the granary of Vicksburg. On all other 
sides of the beleaguered city, the Federal lines were drawn so closely that 
the wagons laden with farm produce could not hope to pass. ]5ut here, 
back of the city, and far from the camps of Grant's legions, the work 
rtf raising produce for the gallant people of Vicksburg was prosecuted 



762 BLUE-JACKKTS OF '61. 



with the most untiring vigor. The sight, then, of the advancing gun- 
boats aroused the greatest consternation. From the deck of his vessel 
Porter could see the people striving to save their property from the 
advancing enemy. Great droves of cattle were being driven away far 
into the interior ; negroes were skurrying in all directions, driving poultry 
and pigs to the safe concealment of the forest ; wagons groaning under 
the weight of farm and garden produce could be seen disappearing in 
the distance. What the inhabitants could not save they destroyed, 
in order that it might not profit the invaders. A short distance from 
the mouth of the bayou were si.x thousand bales of cotton piled up on 
opposite sides of the stream, ready to be taken aboard a steamer when 
the war should end. As the gunboats advanced slowly, making little 
headway against the two-knot current of the bayou, Porter saw two men^ 
carrying lighted pine-knots, dash up to the cotton, and begin to set it 
afire. The admiral looked on in disgust. "'What fools these mortals 
be!'" said he to an officer standing at his side; "but I suppose those 
men have a right to burn their own cotton, especially as we have no way 
of preventing them." 

"I can send a howitzer shell at them, sir," said the officer, "and 
drive them away." 

But to this Porter demurred, saying that he had no desire to kill the 
men, and that they might do as they liked with their own. Accordingly 
the officers quietly watched the vandals, until, after twenty minutes' 
work, the cotton was blazing, and a dense mass of smoke cut off all 
vision ahead, and rose high in the air. Then Porter began to suspect 
that he had made a mistake. The difficulties of navigation in the bayou 
were great enough, without having smoke and fire added to them. Yet 
to wait for the cotton to burn up might cause a serious delay. On the 
'■>igh bank of the bayou stood a negro begging the sailors to take him 
.hoard. 

" Hallo, there. Sambo I " sung out Porter, " how long will it take this 
cotton to burn up .' " 

"Two day, massa," responded the contraband; "p'raps tree." 

That ended the debate. "Ring the bell to go ahead fast," said the 
admiral to the pilot; and away went the flotilla at full speed, plunging 
into the smoke and fire. It wa? a hot experience for the sailors. The 



BLUE-J'-'^<^"J^'"1"S OF '6 1. 7^2, 



heavy iron-clads made but slow progress, and were scorched and blis- 
tered with the heat. The ports were all shut down, and the crews called 
to fire-quarters, buckets in hand. To remain on deck, was impossible. 
Porter and his captain made the trial, but had hardly entered the smoke 
when the scorching heat drove both into the shelter of an iron-covered 
deck-house. The pilot standing at the wheel seized a flag, and, wrapping 
it about his face and body,, was able to stay at his post. As the flames 
grew hotter, the sailors below opened the main hatch, and, thrusting up 
a hose, deluged the deck with floods of water. So, without a man in 
sight, the huge iron ship moved along between the walls of flame. Sud- 
denly came an enormous crash. The gunboat shivered, and for a moment 
stood still ; then, gathering headway, moved on again, though with much 
ominous grating beneath her keel. Soon after she passed out of the 
smoke and heat, and all hands rushed on deck for a whiff of the fresh, 
cool air. Their first thought was of the cause of the collision ; and, look- 
ing eagerly astern, they saw a heavy bridge, about fifty feet of which had 
been demolished by the tremendous power of the ram. This gave Pon 
i hmt as to the force he had at his command ; and thereafter bridg--- 
vvcie rammed as a matter of course whenever they impeded the progress 
of the iron-clads. The astonishment of the people along the shore may 
well be imagined. 

The great and formidable obstacles that stood in the path of the 
squadron were, as a rule, overcome by the exertion of the great powers of 
the steam-driven, iron-plated vessels ; but at last there came a check, that, 
though it seemed at first insignificant, terminated the sylvan manoeuvres 
of the iron-clad navy. After running the gantlet of the burning cotton, 
butting down trees, and smashing through bridges, the column entered 
a stretch of smooth water that seemed to promise fair and unobstructed 
sailing. But toward the end of this expanse of water a kind of green 
scum was evident, extending right across the bayou, from bank to banl^ 
Porter's keen eye caught sight of this ; and, turning to one of the negroes 
who had taken refuge on the gunboat, he asked what it was. " It's 
nufiHn' but willows, sah," he replied. "When de water's out of dc bayou, 
den we cuts de willows to make baskets with. You kin go troo dat like 
a eel." 

Satisfied with this explanation, the admiral ordered the tug wh^ch 



764 BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 

led the column to go ahead. Under a full head of steam, the tug cIaslK-<l 
into the willows, but began to slow up, until, after going about thirty 
yards, she stopped, unable to go forward or back. Undaunted by this 
unexpected resistance, Porter cried out that the " Cincinnati " would push 
the tug along ; and the heavy gunboat, withdrawing a short distance 
to gain headway, hurled herself forward, and dashed into the willows 
with a force that would have carried her through any bridge ever built. 
But the old fable of the lion bound down by the silken net was here 
re-enacted. The gunboat did not even reach the tug. The slende.'- 
willow-shoots trailed along the sides, caught in the rough ends of the 
iron overhang, and held the vessel immovable. Abandoning the attempt 
to advance, the gunboat strove to back out, but to no avail. Then hooks 
were rigged over the side to break away the withes, and men slung in 
ropes alongside vigorously wielded shar|i cutlasses and saws ; but still 
the willows retained their grip. Matters were now getting serious ; and. 
-.I add to Porter's perplexity, reports came in that Confederate trooiis 
■. ^re coming down upon him. Then he began to lose confidence in. his 
iron clads, and wish right heartily for Sherman and his soldiers, of whose 
whereabouts he could gain no knowledge. The enemy did not leave him 
long in doubts as to their intention, and soon began a vigorous fire of 
shells from the woods. Porter stopped that promptly by manning his 
mortars and firing a few shells at a range measured by the sound of the 
enemy's cannon. The immediate silence of the ho-'-tile batteries proved 
the accuracy of the admiral's calculations, and gave him time to devise 
means for escaping from his perilous position. 

How to do it without aid from Sherman's troops, was a difficult ques- 
tion ; and in his perplexity he exclaimed aloud, '' Why don't ShernKin 
come on.' I'd give ten dollars to get a telegram to him." The admir.d 
was standing at the moment on the bank of the bayou, near a group of 
negroes ; and an athletic-looking contraband stepped forward, and, announ 
cing himself as a "telegram-wire," offered to carry the note "to kingdun- 
kum for half a dollar." After sharply cross-questioning the volunteer. 
Porter wrote on a scrap of paper, "Dear Sherman, — Hurry up, for 
Heaven's sake. I never knew how helpless an iron-clad could be, steam- 
ing around through the woods without an army to back her." 

" Where will you carry this .' " asked Porter, handing the despatch to 
the nes:ro. 



BLUI'.-JACKETS OF '6i. 765 



" In my calabash kiver, massa," responded the messenger with a grin ; 
and, stowing the paper away in his woolly hair, he darted away. 

The telegram being thus despatched, Porter again turned his attention 
to the willows ; and, a fortunate rise in the water having occurred, he was 
able to extricate his vessels and begin his retreat down the bayou. He 
was somewhat perplexed by the silence of the Confederates, from whom 
he had heard nothing since his mortars silenced their masked batteries. 
The conundrum was solved by the sound of wood-chopping in the forests 
ahead, and the discovery shortly after of two heavy logs lying athwart 
the bayou, and stopping the progress of the vessels. An I.our's ha'"d 
work with axe and saw removed this obstruction ; and the tuor. 'flipping 
through first, shot ahead to prevent any more tree-felling. The loud 
reports of her howitzer soon carried back to the fleet the news that she 
had come up with the enemy, and was disputing with them the right to 
the bayou. 

The difficulties of the retreat were no less great than those of the 
advance, with the intermittent attacks of the enemy added. The work of 
removing heavy, soggy logs, half submerged beneath the black waters 
of the bayou, clearing away standing trees, and breaking up and removing 
Red-river rafts, wearied the sadors, and left them little spirit to meet the 
enemy's attacks. The faint sounds of wood-chopping in the distance 
told too well of the additional impediments yet in store for the adven- 
turous mariners. Scouts sent out reported that the enemy had impressed 
great gangs of negroes, and were forcing them to do the work of felling 
the trees that were to hem in Uncle Sam's gunboats, for the benefit 
of the C.S.A. But the plans of the Confederates to this end were easily 
defeated. Porter had not only many willing arms at his command, but 
the powerful aid of steam. When the gunboats came to a tree lying 
across the bayou, a landing jiarty went ashore and fastened large pulleys 
to a tree on the bank. Then a rope was pas.sed through the block ; 
and one end having been made fast to the fallen tree, the other was taken 
aboard a gunboat. The word was then given, "Back the iron-clad hard;" 
and the fallen monarch of the forest was soon dragged across the bayou 
and out of the way So expert did the jackics become in lliis work, 
that they were soon able to clear away the trees faster than the enemy 
could fell them. The tug then went ahead, and for a time put an er,u 
to further tree-chopping, and captured several of the negro axemen. 



766 BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 



From the captured contrabands Porter learned that the attempt to cut 
off his retreat was directed by the military authorities at Vicksburg. This 
was a startling revelation. He had thought that the Confederates were 
in entire ignorance of his movement ; and now it turned out that the 
aily Pemberton had kept a sharp lookout on the marauding gunboats, and 
was shrewdly planning for their capture. While Porter was pondering 
over this new discovery, a party of scouts came in, bringing in four 
captured Confederates, two of whom were commissioned officers. The 
commanding officer, a mere boy, was somewhat chagrined at being 
captured, but felt confident that his friends would recapture him shortly. 
Porter politely asked him to take a glass of wine and some supper. 

" I don't care if I do," responded the youngster ; " and I have the less 
compunction in taking it, as it belongs to us anyhow. In two hours you 
will be surrounded and bagged. You can't escape. How in the Devil's 
name you ever got here, is a wonder to me." 

Porter smiled pleasantly, and, helping his guests lavishly, proceeded to 
:]uestion them on the numbers and position of the Confederate troops. 
He learned that a large body of troops had been sent out to surround 
the iron-clads, and were even then closing in upon the intruders. The 
danget was imminent, but Porter showed no trepidation. 

" How far off are your troops ? " he aske^. 

"About four miles. They will bag you at daylight," was the confident 
response. 

" Well, gentlemen," said the admiral, " Gen. Sherman is now surround- 
ing your forces with ten thousand men, and will capture them all before 
daylight." And so saying the admiral went on deck, leaving his captives 
lost in wonder ; for the information carried to the Vicksburg authorities 
had made no mention of troops. 

Though Porter had put on so bold a front before his captives, he really 
Iclt much anxiety for the fate of his iron-clads. He could hear nothing 
from Sherman, who might be thirty miles away for all he knew. Accord- 
ingly he retraced his course for a few miles, to throw the enemy off the 
scent, and the next day began again his descent of the bayou, bumping 
along stern foremost amid snags and standing trees. The enemy soon 
gave evidence that he was on the watch, and opened fire with his artillery 
from the rear. At this one gunboat steamed back and silenced the artil'**'v 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 1^1 

for a time, after which she rejoined her fellows. Sharp-shooters in the 
thickets along the levee then began to grow troublesome ; and the whistle 
of the rifle-balls, with an occasional ping as one struck the smoke-stack, 
warned the sailors that the deck of a gunboat in a narrow canal was no 
safe place in time of war. The high levees on either side of the bayoi: 
made it impossible to use the guns properly: so Porter turned them into 
mortars, and, by using very small charges of powder, pitched shells u[3 
into the air, dropping them into the bushes back of the levee. This 
somewhat checked the fire of the sharp-shooters, but the decks were 
still dangerous places to frequent. A rifle-ball struck Lieut. Wells in the 
head as he stood talking to Porter ; and he fell, apparently dead, upon the 
deck. The admiral beckoned an officer to come and bear away the body ; 
but the newcomer was also hit, and fell across the body of the first. 
Purter concluded that the locality was getting rather hot, and gladly 
stepped behind a heavy plate of sheet-iron, which an old quartermaster 
brought him with the remark, " There, sir, stand behind that. They've 
fired at you long enough." 

From behind his shield, Porter looked out an.xiously at the forces bj 
which he was beleaguered. He could see clearly that the Confederates 
were increasing in numbers ; and, when at last he saw a long gray column 
come sweeping out of the woods, his heart failed him, and for a moment 
he thought that the fate of his flotilla was sealed. But at that very 
moment deliverance was at hand. The Confederates were seen to fall 
into confusion, waver, and give way before a thin blue line, — the advance 
guard of Sherman's troops. The negro "telegram-wire" had proved 
faithful, and Sherman had come on to the rescue. 

That ended the difficulties of the flotilla. The enemy, once brought 
face to face with Sherman's men, departed abruptly ; and soon the doughty 
general, mounted on an old gray horse, came riding down to the edge 
of the bayou, for a word with Porter. Seeing the admiral on the deck of 
his gunboat, he shouted out, " Hallo ! Porter, what did you get into such 
an ugly scrape for .' So much for you navy fellows getting out of your 
element. Better send for the soldiers always. My boys will put you 
thi^ough. Here's your little nigger. He came through all right, and I 
started at once. Your gunboats are enough to scare the crows : they 
look as if you had got a terrible hammering." 



"'^^ BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



Somewhat crestfallen, Porter remarked, that he " never knew whnt 
helpless things iron-clads could become when they got in a ditch, and 
had no soldiers about." As Sherman declined to come aboard, Porter 
went below to look after his two prisoners. 

"Well, gentlemen," said he, as he entered the cabin, "you were right. 
We are surrounded by troops." 

The two Confederates were greatly exultant, but assured Porter that 
they would see that he was kindly treated when taken into Vicksburg. 

"To Vicksburg! " said he with mock amazement. "Who said any thing 
of Vicksburg .' " 

"Why, of course you'll be taken there as a prisoner, now that our 
men have surrounded you." 

"Oh, you are mistaken there!" responded Porter. "The troops by 
whom I am surrounded are Sherman's boys, si.x thousand strong." And 
at this news the chagrined captives subsided, and began to consider the 
prospects of a trip to the North, and incarceration in one of the military 
orisons. 

Sherman's army soon came up in force, and went into camp along the 
road that skirted the levee. As night fell, the scene took on a wild and 
picturesque air. In the narrow bayou lay the gunboats, strung out in 
single file along a line of half a mile. They bore many signs of the 
hard knocks they had received in their excursion through the woods 
Boats, davits, steam-pipes, and every thing breakable that rose above the 
level of the deck, had been swept away by the overhanging boughs, or 
dashed to pieces by falling trees. The smokestacks and wheel-houses 
were riddled by the bullets of the Confederate sharp-shooters. The decks 
were covered with rubbish of all kinds, and here and there was a fissure 
that told of the bursting of some Confederate shell. The paint was 
blistered, and peeling off, from the effects of the cotton-fire through which 
the fleet had dashed. 

On the shore blazed the camp-fires of Sherman's troops; and about the 
huge flaming piles the weary soldiers threw themselves down, to catch a 
moment's rest, while the company cooks prepared the evening meai 
Many of the idle soldiers strolled down to the edge of the bayou, anci, 
forming a line along the levee, began chafiRng the sailors on the ludicrous 
failure of their attempt to perform naval evolutions in a swamp. 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 769 



" Wliat's gone with your boats, Jack?" sung out one tall fellow in 
cavalry garb. "Been in dry-dock for repairs?" 

"How do you like playing mud-turtle?" said another. "Better stick 
to salt water after this." 

" Don't go bush-whacking again, unless you have the soldiers with you 
You look as if your mothers didn't know you were out." And at this a yeli 
of approval went up all along the line, while the badgered sailors growled 
and tried to make sharp retorts to the stinging ridicule of the landsmen. 

So ended this memorable gunboat expedition. It is unparalleled in 
the history of warfare. The feats performed by the unwieldy iron-clads 
in the narrow bayous gained for them, from Lincoln, the title of " web- 
footed" gunboats. They had traversed shallow and tortuous channels; 
they had cleared their path of trees, snags, and even bridges ; they had 
run the gantlet of flaming cotton-bales and Confederate bullets. After 
meeting and overcoming so many obstacles, their final stoppage by a 
thicket of pitiful willow-shoots irritated the blue-jackets and their com- 
mander extremely. Porter had penetrated so far into the Yazoo countr\-, 
that he could see how great damage could be inflicted upon the Con 
federates, if the e.xpedition could but be carried out successfully. He had 
definite information to the effect, that, at Yazoo City, the Confederates had 
a thriving shipyard, at which they were pressing forward the construction 
of steam-rams with which to sweep the Mississippi. To reach that point 
and destroy the vessels, would have been a service thoroughly in accord 
with his tastes ; but the willows held him back. However, he was able 
to console himself with the thought that the rams were not likely to 
do the Confederates any immediate service ; for a truthful contraband, 
brought in by the Union scouts, informed the admiral that "dey has no 
bottom in, no sides to 'em, an' no top on to 'em, sah ; an' dere injines is 
in Richmon'." 

When the dangers encountered by the gunboats during this expedition 
are considered, the damage sustained seems surprisingly small. Had the 
Confedcraf-es acted promptly and vigorously, the intruders would never 
have escaped from the swam[is into which thei' temerity had led them. 
A few torpedoes, judieiou.sly planted in the muddy bed of the bayou, 
would have effectively prevented any farther advance. More than once 
the Confederates posted their artillery within effective range, and opened 



7/0 BLUE-JACKETS OK 'oi. 



a rapid and well-directed fire upon the gunboats, but erred in using 
explosive shells instead of solid shot. " They were evidently greenhorns," 
wrote Porter, exulting over his narrow escape, "and failed to understand 
that wc were iron-clad, and did not mind dursfvi^-sheW. If they had 
.!sed solid shot, they might have hurt us." The infantry forces of the 
2nemy were ample to have given the marauding gunboats a vast deal of 
trouble, if the Confederate officers had been enterprising, and had seized 
upon the opportunities afforded them. Night after night the flotilla lay 
tied up in the centre of a narrow bayou, with the levees towering so high 
above the gunboats' ports, that the cannon were useless. At such a time, 
a determined assault by a body of hostile infantry could hardly have been 
resisted. Such an attack was the danger which Porter most feared 
throughout the expedition, and he nightly made preparations for a des- 
perate resistance. The widest part of the bayou was chosen for the 
anchorage, in order that a strip of water at least four feet wide might 
separate the gunboats from the shore. The sides of the iron-clads were 
Ten greased, and the guns loaded with grape, and elevated as much as 
. ossible. Landing parties with howitzers were sent ashore, and posted so 
as to enfilade any attacking force ; scouts were sent out in all directions ; 
and the crews of the gunboats slept at their quarters all night, ready for 
action at the first alarm. But it is doubtful whether even these elaborate 
precautions could have saved the flotilla, had the Confederates brought 
one regiment to the assault. However, the enemy let the golden moment 
pass; and, after suffering the agonies of suspense for several days, Porter 
at last saw his gunboa's safely anchored by the side of Sherman's pro- 
cecting regiments 

Sherman and Porter held a consultation that night, and concluded that 
It was useless to try to get around Vicksburg by hauling the gunboats 
tlirough the woods; and the following morning the flotilla started back 
to the Union headquarters on the Mississippi. 

Gen. Grant was beginning to get impatient. Weeks had passed away, 
and there were still no gunboats or transports below the Vicksburg batteries 
to aid him in carrying out his military plans. He held a long consultation 
with Porter, the outcome of which was that the admiral decided to run his 
gunboats and transports right through the fire of the Confederate guns. 

But, before sending a vessel through, Porter thought that he would test 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



the accuracy of the Confederate gunners by giving them a dummy to fire 
at. He took a large flat boat, and built it up with logs and lumber until it 
looked like a powerful ram. Two huge wheel-houses towered amidships, 
on each of which was painted, in great, staring letters, "Deluded Rebels, 
cave in." From the open ports, the muzzles of what appeared to be heavy 
rifles protruded; though the guns that seemed so formidable were really 
only logs of wood. Two high smoke-stacks, built of empty pork-barrels, 
rose from the centre of this strange craft ; and at the bottom of each stack 
was an iron pot, in which was a heap of tar and oakum that sent forth vol- 
umes of black smoke when lighted. One dark night the fires in this sham 
monster were lighted, and she was towed down to the Confederate batteries, 
and set drifting down the river. She was quickly discovered, and the bat 
teries on the bluffs opened on her with a roar. There was nothing about the 
dummy to be hurt, however ; and it was impossible to sink her. So she 
sailed majestically through the plunging hail of solid shot, and past the 
terrible batteries that were thought to be a match for any thing afloat. 
The Confederates in the trenches looked at each other in astonishment and 
Jismay. Word was sent to Gen. Pemberton that a powerful Yankee iron- 
clad had passed the batteries unhurt, and was speeding down the stream. 
The General's first thought was of a gunboat, the " Indianola," lately cap- 
tured from the Federals, and now being converted into an iron-clad ram. She 
raust be saved from recapture, even if it should be necessary to destroy her. 
Word was hurriedly sent down the river that a formidable ram was bearing 
down upon the " Indianola ; " and, if the latter vessel was not in condition 
to do battle, she should be blown up. Accordingly, while the dummy ram, 
caught in an eddy of the river, was whirling helplessly around Just below 
Vicksburg, the Confederates put the torch to their new war-vessel, and she 
was .soon a heap of ashes. Porter's little joke was a good one for the United 
States. 

But all the time that the Union navy was making these futile attempts 
to get the better of the wily general who held the fort at Vicksburg, a 
constant bombardment of the city was kept up. From gunboats and land 
batteries, shells were hurled into the streets of the town, tearing down 
houses, killing men, women, and children, and driving the inhabitants to 
their cellars, or to deep caves dug in the hills. The fire from the Union 
gunboats was most destructive, for they could drop down to an advantageous 
point, shell the city until tired, then steam back into safety again. 



lUATK-JACKETS OF '6i. 



Cave-digging in llic city became a regular business ; and caves brought 
from twenty to fifty dollars, according to their size. They generally con- 
sisted of two or three rooms, and people lived in them quite cheerfully 
(.hirir:g the time that the iron hail was falling in the city's streets. 

A Northern woman, who was pent up in Vicksburg during the siege, 
tells graphically the story of the bombardment : — 

" For many nights wc have had but little sleep, because the Federal 
gunboats have been running past the batteries. The uproar when this i- 
happcning is phenomenal. The first night the thundering artillery burst the 
bars of sleep, we thought it an attack by the river. To get into garments, 
and rush up-stairs, was the work of a moment. From the upper gallery we 
have a fine view of the river ; and soon a red glare lit up the scene, and 
showed a small boat, towing two large barges, gliding by. The Confederates 
had set fire to a house near the bank. Another night, eight boats ran by, 
throwing a shower of shot; and two burning houses made the river clear 
as day. One of the batteries has a remarkable gun they call ' whistling 
Dick,' because of the screeching, whistling sound it gives ; and certainly it 
■ lo.;s sound like a tortured thing. Added to all this is the indescribable 
Confederate yell, which is a soul-harrowing sound to hear. I have gained 
respect for the mechanism of the human ear, which stands it all without 
injury. The streets are seldom quiet at night : even the dragging about of 
cannon makes a din in these echoing gullies. The other night we were on 
the gallery till the last of the eight boats got by. Next day a friend said 

to H , ' It was a wonder you didn't have your heads taken off last night. 

I passed, and saw them stretched over the gallery ; and grape-shot were 
whizzing up the street just on a level with you.' The double roar of bat- 
teries and boats was so great, we never noticed the whizzing. Yesterday 
the 'Cincinnati' attempted to go by in daylight, but was disabled and sunk. 
It was a pitiful sight : we could not see the finale, though wc saw her 
rendered helpless. 

" Since that day the regular siege has continued. We are utterly cut off 
from the world, surrounded by a circle of fire. Would it be wise, like the 
scorpion, to sting ourselves to death .' The fiery shower of shells goes on 

day and night. H 's occupation, of course, is gone, his office closed. 

Every man has to carry a pass in his pocket. People do nothing but eat 
what they can get, sleep when they can, and dodge the shells. There are 







mMmm 



774 BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 

three intervals when the shelling stops, — eitlicr for the guns to cool, or for 
the gunners' meals, I suppose, — about eight in the morning, the same in 
the evening, and at noon. In that time we have to both prepare and eat 
ours. Clothing cannot be washed, or any thing else done. On the 19th 
and 22d, when the assaults were made on the lines, I watched the soldiers 
cooking on the green opposite. The half-spent balls, coming all the way 
from those lines, were flying so thick that they were obliged to dodge at 
every turn. At all the caves I could see from my high perch, people were 
sitting, eating their poor suppers at the cave doors, ready to plunge in again. 
As the first shell again flew, they dived ; and not a human being was visible. 
The sharp crackle of the musketry-firing was a strong contrast to tiic 
scream of the bombs. I think all the dogs and cats must be killed 01 
starved : we don't see any more pitiful animals prowling around. . . . The 
cellar is so damp and musty, the bedding has to be carried out and laid in 
the sun every day, with the forecast that it may be demolished at any 
moment. The confinement is dreadful. To sit and listen as if waiting foi 
death in a horrible manner, would drive me insane. I don't know what 

nt'icrs do, but we read when I am not scribbling in this. H borrouef, 

somewhere a lot of Dickens's novels, and we re-read them by the dim light 

in the cellar. When the shelling abates, H goes to walk about a little, 

or get the ' Daily Citizen,' which is still issuing a tiny sheet at twenty-five 
and fifty cents a copy. It is, of course, but a rehash of speculations which 
amuses a half-hour. To-day he heard, while out, that expert swimmers are 
crossing the Mississippi on logs at night, to bring and carry news to 
Johnston. I am so tired of corn-bread, which I never liked, that I eat it 
with tears in my eyes. We are lucky to get a quart of milk daily from a 
family near, who have a cow they hourly expect to be killed. I send five 
dollars to market each morning, and it buys a small piece of mule-meat. 
Rice and milk is my main food : I can't eat the mule-meat. We boil the 
rice, and eat it cold, with milk, for supper. Martha runs the gauntlet to buy 
the meat and milk once a day in a perfect terror. The shells seem to have 
many different names. I hear the soldiers say, ' That's a raortar-shell. 
There goes a Parrott. That's a rifle-shell.' They are all equally terrible. 
A pair of chimney-swallows have built in the parlor chimney. The concus- 
sion of the house often sends down parts of their nest, which they patiently 
pick up and re-ascend with." 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 775 



Grant's impassable lines about the beleaguered city soon made starva- 
tion more to be feared than even the terrible shells from the cannon 0/ 
the gunboats. Necessaries of all sorts became wofully scarce in Vicks- 
burg. Pive dollars could purchase only a little bit of mule's flesh, hardl) 
enough for a meal for two people. Flour was not to be had at any price 
Bread was made of coarse corn-meal or grated peas. The ammunition of 
the soldiers in the trenches soon began to give out, and the utmost economy 
was exercised. Many of the soldiers were armed with muskets that 
required caps, and it was not many days before caps were at a great 
premium. They were generally smuggled into the city through the Union 
lines by fleet-footed carriers, who ran a long gauntlet of Union pickets. 
Many were shot down in the attempt, but more succeeded. One man 
who brought in sixteen thousand caps, was nine days travelling thirteen 
miles, and was fired on more than twenty times. 

But, though Grant could have starved the city into subjection by sim]3 v 
sitting and waiting, he grew tired of this, and determined to force matters to 
an issue. The first thing to be done was to get the gunboats and trans- 
ports past the batteries. The transports were put into shape to stand a 
cannonade by having their weaker parts covered with cotton-bales ; and on 
one dark night in June, the flotilla started down the river, with the iron- 
clad gunboats in advance. Admiral Porter led in the "Benton." At 
eleven o'clock the fleet got under way ; and, as the " Benton " came abreast 
of the first batteries, the alarm was given in the Confederate camp, and a 
fierce cannonade began. Huge fires were lighted on the shores to light up 
the river, and make the gunboats visible to the Confederate cannoneers. 
The war-ships swung grandly around the bend, responding with rapid 
broadsides to the fire of the forts. All the vessels were hit once or 
oftener. The heavy smoke that accompanies such fierce cannonading hung 
over the river, cutting off all view of the surroundings from the sailors. 
The eddying currents of the river caught the steamers, swinging them now 
this way, now that, until the perplexed pilots knew not which way their 
vessels were headed. The blue-jackets at the guns worked away cheerily, 
knowing that enemies were on every side of them, and that, no matter 
which way their mi.ssiles sped, an enemy was to be found. More than one 
vessel turned completely around ; and once, when the rising breeze cleared 
away the smoke, the pilot of the "Benton" found that he was taking his 



776 BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 



shiji up-stream again, and was in imminent danger of running down a 
friendly gunboat. But they all passed on without receiving any severe 
injuries, and at five o'clock in the morning lay anchored far below the city, 
ready to begin the attack upon the Confederate batteries at Grand Gulf 
i.iiich were called "the key to Vicksburg." 








u - III n-^i-i% 




CHAPTER XVI. 



VICKSBURG SURRENDERS, AND THE MISSISSIPPI IS OPENED. — NAVAL EVENTS ALONG 
THE GULF COAST. 




HE first grand step toward the capture of Vicksburg was made 
when the river-flotilla followed Porter down the Mississippi, and 
]')ast the guns of the Confederate batteries. Grant, with his 
army, had followed along the western bank of the great river ; and 
we now find him ready to cross the river, and move upon the Vicksburg 
batteries from the south. But, before this could be done, the Confederate 
works at Grand Gulf must be silenced ; and it again happened that the 
navy was to be the chief factor in the contest. For this new battle all 
the blue-jackets were ready and an.xious. Admiral Porter says that "when 
daylight broke, after the passage of the fleet, I was besieged by the com- 
manding officers of the gunboats, who came to tell me of their mishaj^s ; 
but, when I intimated that I intended to leave at Carthage any vessel that 
could not stand the hammering they would be subject to at Grand Gulf, 
they suddenly discovered that no damage had been done to their vessels, 
which, if any thing, were better prepared for action than when they started 
out ! " 

The Confederate works at Grand Gulf mounteil eighteen guns ; and, as 
they stood upon high bluffs overlooking the river, they were most formid- 

777 



778 BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



able. It was decided by the Federals that the navy alone should undertake 
the task of- reducing the fortifications, — a decision that was of benefit 
10 the Confederates, for their strongest position was along the river-front. 
l"(uir of the guns held a raking position up and down the long stretch of 
muddy water that swirled and eddied by with a current of seven miles an 
hour. 

While the fort had the advantage of position, the gunboats were much 
stronger in their armament ; and the contest was looked forward to as one 
bound to be desperate. The position of every gun in the batteries, and 
the size of the garrison, were well known to every commander of a Union 
vessel ; and they made the most careful preparations for the assault. 

The Confederates knew that the result of that day's battle would decide 
the ownership of Vicksburg, and they were prepared to offer the most des- 
perate resistance. The orders at every battery were to use shell alone ; and 
the men were instructed to fire carefully, and only after taking deadly aim. 
In a high tree just outside the fort a lookout was stationed; and at early 
l.iylight, on the morning of the 29th of April, 1S63, he signalled that the 
Meet of gunboats was bearing down upon the works. 

Men who were in the fort that morning saw a strange panorama. The 
stillness was most profound on the shore and on the river. The boats 
moved slowly and grandly down, not a man in sight, and with no sign of 
life. The trees up the river were black with Federal spectators ; and the 
chirp of birds was all about the men who stood waiting beside the huge 
cannon. 

Porter went at his work with a vim which made the forest tremble and 
the river bubble. For the first few minutes the Confederates were appalled 
by the fierceness of the fire, which stands on record as the fastest in the 
war ; but, when the forts did get down to their work, they went in with a 
roar that almost deafened the Federal soldiers three miles away. Great 
shells burst over the gunboats, or, falling into the water close by their sides, 
threw up columns of water that -deluged the decks. The vessels found the 
greatest difficulty in getting good positions for the swift-eddying current. 
One moment they were bow on, the ne.\t headed down stream, or up, or 
whirling around in circles. Of course this greatly hurt the aim of the 
gunners, but it likewise made the vessels poor targets for the Confederates. 

Three gunboats — the "Benton," "Tuscumbia," and "Lafayette" - 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 779 

engaged the upper battery ; and nowhere in naval history is found the 
record of faster firing than was done by these ships. Their huge shells tore 
away at the walls of earth, throwing up tons of dirt with each explosion, 
but not seeming to affect the strength of the fort at all. Not a shot 
entered an embrasure, though many came near it. One of the Confederate 
artillerists said after the fight, — 

" There was not one single minute in all that five hours in which I did 
not expect death. We all worked away as if in a nightmare, and we all 
felt that any moment might be our last. The 'Benton' fired repeatedly 
at my gun ; and as many as twenty of her shells struck the opening, tearing 
holes in the parapet ten feet back. Twenty times we were almost buried 
out of sight under the clouds of dirt, and the loose earth was knee deep 
around our gun when the fight closed. Not one of us was hit hard enough 
to draw blood, and yet we all felt ten years older for that five hours' work. 
I sighted the gun, and saw fourteen of my shot hit the ' Benton,' and six 
plunge into another." 

The gunboats fought in a way that showed desperate determination. 
The first gun from the " Lafayette " was answered by a shell which crashed 
through her side and exploded in a wardroom, knocking every thing into 
chips. Three times the carpenter came up and reported to the captain that 
the ship was sinking; and each time the reply was, "Very well, sir: keep 
right on firing until the guns are under water." When the ship came out 
of the fight, she counted up fifty scars. 

The long-range firing that was carried on at first did not satisfy the 
" Mound City." One particular gunner on the Confederate works seemed 
to cherish a spite against her ; and every time the flame leaped from the 
muzzle of his gun, a solid shot banged against the gunboat's side. This 
was not to be tamely borne ; and the " Mound City " rushed up so close to 
the bank that her bow stirred up the mud, and from that position opened 
fast and furiously upon the forts with grape and canister. A hail of rifle- 
bullets fell upon her decks ; but she stuck to her post, and succeeded in 
driving the enemy to the bomb-proofs. 

But, with all their pluck and rapid firing, the gunners of the fleet were 
making no impression on the works. Gen. Grant, who was watching the 
engagement from a tug in mid-stream, saw this, and determined to rush his 
soldiers past the fort in transi)orts, while the navy engaged the eiicmv's 



780 BLUE-JACKETS OF 'bi. 

guns. This was done quickl)-, and tewards night the ships returned Ui 
their post up the river, leaving the Confederates in possession of the 
batteries. But the great point had been gained ; and Grant's army 
was moving on Vicksburg, with nothing to interfere with its besieging 
operations. 

Then began that series of attacks and repulses, of building trenches, 
paralleling, and advancing steadily, until the lines of the Federals and the 
Confederates were so close together that the men used to shout jokes 
and taunts over the breastworks. All the Confederates were known as 
"Johnnies," and all Union soldiers as "Yanks." Often " Johnny " would 
call out, "Well, Yank, when are you coming into town.'" Sometimes 
the answer was, "We propose to celebrate the Fourth of July there." Tiic 
"Johnnies" did not believe this; but it was true, nevertlieless, for on Jul\ 
4 Grant's victorious army marched into Vicksburg. A day or two later 
the Confederate works at Port Hudson and Grand Gulf were surrendere.;! 
to the Federals, and the Mississippi was again open for commerce througii- 
out its length. 

When the fall of Vicksburg had thus left the river clear. Admiral Porter 
was ordered to take his fleet up the Red River, and clear away any Confctl- 
erate works that he might find on the banks of that stream. Gen. A. J. 
Smith, with a strong body of troops, accompanied him ; while Gen. Banks 
was to march his troops overland from Texas, and join the expedition at 
Shreveport. For several days the gunboats pressed forward up the crooked 
stream, meeting with no opposition, save from the sharp-shooters who lined 
the banks on either side, and kept up a constant fire of small-arms. 

Shreveport was reached in safety ; and, after a short halt, the flotilla 
started again on their voyage up the river. They had proceeded but a 
short distance when a courier came galloping down the river's bank, 
vvaving a despatch, which he handed to Admiral Porter. 

"The despatch read, 'Gen. Banks badly defeated ; return.' Here was ;i 
dilemma to be placed in, — a victorious army between us and our own forces ■ 
a long, winding, shallow river wherein the vessels were continually ground- 
ing ; a long string of empty transports, with many doubtful captains, who 
were constantly making excuses to lie by or to land (in other words, who 
were trying to put their vessels into the power of the Confederates) ; and a 
thousand points on the river where we could be attacked with great advan- 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. /Si 

tagc by the enemy ; and the banks lined with sharp-shooters, by whom every 
Micautious soldier who showed himself was shot." 

But, though the admiral clearly saw all the dangers he was exposed to. 
and which he recounts in the foregoing paragraph, he did not propose to 
return, but pressed forward. He soon reached the scene of battle, and 
with the big guns of his boats covered the retreat of the troops; then, 
having done all there was to be done, started down the river. 

But now came the great trouble of the whole expedition. Those South- 
ern rivers are accustomed in summer to fall rapidly until they become 
mere drj^ ditches, with a narrow rivulet, hardly deep enough to float a row- 
boat, flowing down the centre. This was the summer season, and the Red 
River was falling fast. The banks swarmed with gray-coated soldiery, 
anxious to be on hand to capture the ships. At Grand Ecore the " East- 
port "became unmanageable, and was blown up. The fleet continued on 
its way quietly, until a serious obstacle was met. Admiral Porter writes : — 

" One of the ' Cricket's ' guns was mounted on the upper deck forward, 
to command the banks ; and a crew of six men were kept stationed at it, 
ready to fire at any thing hostile. 

"We went along at a moderate pace, to keep within supporting distance 
of each other. I was sitting on the upper deck, reading, with one eye on 
the book and the other on the bushes, when I saw men's heads, and sang out 
to the commanding officer, Gorringe, 'Give those fellows in the bushes a 
two second shell.' A moment after the shell burst in the midst of the 
people on the bank. 

"'Give them another dose,' I .said, when, to my astonishment, there came 
on board a shower of projectiles that fairly made the little 'Cricket' stag- 
,i;er. Nineteen shells burst on board our vessel at the first volley. It was 
'.lie gun-battery of which our prisoner had told us. We were going along 
at this time about six knots an hour ; and, before we could fire another gun, 
we were right under the battery and turning the point, presenting the 
' Cricket's ' stern to the enemy. They gave us nine shells when we were 
not more than twenty yards distant from the bank, all of which burst inside 
of us ; and, as the vessel's stern was presented, they poured in ten more 
shots, which raked us fore and aft. 

" Then came the roar of three thousand muskets, which .seemed to strike 
every spot in the vessel. Fortunately her sides were musket-proof. 



782 BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 



"The 'Cricket' stopped. I had been expecting it. How, thonglit I, 
could all these shells go through a vessel without disabling the machinery ? 
The Rebels gave three cheers, and let us drift on : they were determined to 
have the whole of us. They opened their guns on the two pump-boats, and 
.-.link them at the first discharge. The poor negroes that could swim tried to 
rc;ich the shore ; but the musketeers picked off those that were in the water 
iir clinging to the wrecks. It was a dreadful spectacle to witness, with no 
power to prevent it; but it turned out to be the salvation of the 'Cricket.' 
■Ml this took place in less than five minutes. 

" The moment the ' Cricket ' received the first discharge of artillery, I went 
on deck to the pilot-house, saluted by a volley of musketry as I passed along; 
and, as I opened the i^ilot-house door, I saw that the pilot, Mr. Drening, had 
his head cut open by a piece of shell, and the blood was streaming down his 
cheeks. He still held on to the wheel. ' I am all right, sir,' he said : ' I 
won't give up the wheel.' 

"Gorringcwas perfectly cool, and was ringing the engine-room bell to 
'40 ahead. In front of the wheel-house, the bodies of the men who manned 
the howitzer were piled up. A shell had struck the gun, and, exploding, had 
killed all the crew, — a glorious death for them." 

Porter now found himself in a bad fi.x. His guns could not be elevated 
cnongli to bear on the batteries that stood on the crest of the high blufts 
There was nothing to do but to run by at the best possible rate of speed. 
Suddenly the engine stopped, an-' the vessel floated helplessly down the 
stream. Porter rushed below co discover the trouble. In the engine-room 
stood the engineer leaning heavily against the throttle. Porter shouted at 
liini, but received no reply ; then, putting his hand on the man's shoulder, 
found him dead. The admiral threw the body aside, pulled open the throt- 
tle, and the " Cricket " glided along past the batteries to a safe refuge down- 
stream. The other ships came down safely, although more or less cut up ; 
>uul the flotilla continued its retreat down the stream. For a day or two all 
went smoothly as a holiday excursion ; then came a sudden reverse, that, for 
for a time, seemed to make certain the loss of the entire fleet. At Alexan- 
dria the Red-river bottom is full of great rocks that make it impassable 
except at the highest water. When Porter's gunboats arrived, they found 
themselves caught in a trap from which there seemed to be no hope of 
escape. The army was encamped along the banks of the river, and the 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



/S: 



soldiers began again their jokes upon Porter's habit of taking gunboats 
for an overland journey. The army generals began to get impatient, and 
advised Porter to blow up his ships, as the troops must soon march on 
and leave him. Porter was sick in bed, but this suggestion aroused him. 
" Burn my gunboats ! " he cried, springing to his feet. "Never! I'll wait 
here for high water if I have to wait two years." And, indeed, it began to 
look as though he would be forced to wait nearly that long. 





.^ 




BAILEY'S DAM ON THE RED RIVER. 

In this time of sus])ense, tliere arose a man equal to the emergency. y\ 
certain Lieut.-Col. Bailey, who had been a Wisconsin lumberman, came to 
Porter, and suggested that a dam should be built to raise the water fourteen 
feet above the falls. Porter jumped at the suggestion, and eight thou.sand 
n.en were set to work. 

"It will take too much time to enter into the details of this truly wonder- 



784 BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 



fill work," writes Admiral Porter. " Suffice it to say that the dam had nearly 
reached completion in eight days* working-time, and the water had risen 
siifTiciently on the upper falls to allow the ' P'ort Hindman,' ' Osage,' and 
'Neosho' to get down and be ready to pass the dam. In another day it 
would have been high enough to enable all the other vessels to pass the 
upper falls. Unfortunately, on the morning of the gih instant the pressure 
of water became so great that it swept away two of the stone barges which 
swung in below the dam on one side. Seeing this unfortunate accident, I 
jumped on a horse, and rode up to where the upper vessels were anchored, 
and ordered the ' Lexington ' to pass the upper falls if possible, and immedi- 
ately attempt to go through the dani. I thought I might be able to save the 
four vessels below, not knowing whether the persons employed on the work 
would ever have the heart to renew their enterprise. 

" The ' Lexington ' succeeded in getting over the upper falls }ust in time, 
the water rapidly falling as she was passing over. She then steered directlj 
l''>r the opening in the dam, through which the water was rushing so furiouslv 
that it seemed as if nothing but destruction awaited her. Thousands of 
beating hearts looked on, anxious for the result. The silence was so great 
as the ' Lexington ' approached the dam, that a pin might almost be heard 
to fall. She entered the gap with a full head of steam on, pitched down the 
roaring torrent, made two or three spasmodic rolls, hung for a moment on 
the rocks below, was then swept into deep water by the current, and 
rounded to safely into the bank. Thirty thousand voices rose in one 
deafening cheer, and universal joy seemed to pervade the face of every 
man present." 

After the dam was repaired, the rest of the fleet passed down safely. 

With the escape of the Red-river flotilla, the career of Admiral Porter 
on the rivers ended. Indeed, there was but little work for the river navy 
remaining. The Mississipjn, Tennessee, and Cumberland Rivers were 
opened; and the Confederate works on the smaller streams were unimpor- 
tant, and could be left to fall with the fall of the Confederacy, which was 
near at hand. There was work for fighting sea-captains along the Atlantic 
coast, and thither Admiral Porter was ordered. He will re-appear at the 
bombardment of Fort Fisher. 

An event which caused the greatest excitement in naval circles at this 
time, and which for courage and dash has probably never been equalled in 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 785 

the history of tlie world, was the run of the Confederate privateer " Florida" 
past the United States fleet blockading the harbor of Mobile. The 
"Florida" was originally a merchant-ship, known as the " Oreto ; " and 
under that name she sailed from Liverpool, carrying a peaceful cargo, 
and tnanned by sailors who had no idea that any thing beyond a peaceable 
voyage was planned. She was commanded by an English sea-captain ; and, 
although the United States consul at Liverpool looked on her with some 
suspicion, yet he could find no pretext upon which to oppose her departure. 

Hardly had the ship passed the mouth of the Mersey, when her course 
was shaped for Nassau, the haven of privateers and blockade-runners. At 
Nassau several officers of the Confederate navy were living; and from the 
anxiety with which they scanned the horizon day after day, through their 
telescopes, it would seem that they were watching for some friendly craft. 
The " Oreto " arrived safely at Nassau ; and a young gentleman who had 
come with her made all possible haste ashore, and delivered to the watchful 
gentlemen in the town certain letters, which made them first look with the 
greatest satisfaction at the newly arrived ship, and then begin again their 
outlook for vessels. The letters were from Capt. Bulloch, the agent in 
London of the Confederacy ; and by them he notified his brother naval 
officers that he delivered to them the " Oreto," an aduiirably built ship, 
suited for an armed cruiser. " It has been impossible to get the regular 
battery intended for her on board," wrote Capt. Bulloch ; " but I have 
sent out four seven-inch rifled guns, with all necessary equipments, in the 
steamship 'Bahama,' bound for Nassau." 

So here were the naval officers and their ship, but the guns were yet to 
come; and, when they did come, some shrewd planning would be necessary 
to get the guns mounted without alarming the British authorities. By the 
time the " Bahama" arrived, the plans were all made. As the steamer came 
up to the dock, a small schooner slipped alongside, and eight or ten heavv 
cases were transferred from the larger vessel's hold to the deck of the 
coaster. Then the little vessel sailed over to Green Cay, a desert island 
about si.xty miles from Nassau, where she was soon joined by the " Oreto.' 
There the work of changing the peaceful merchantman "Oreto" into the 
war-cruiser " Florida " began. 

The work of transferring the armament, and mounting the guns, was 

very laborious. The hot sun of August at the equator poured down upon 
'if 



7^6 BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 



them. Exposure and general discomforts told heavily upon them ; anil 
before long the yellow-fever, that most terrible scourge of the West Indies, 
broke out among the men. There was no surgeon on board, and the care 
of the sick fell upon Capt. Maffitt. Two United States men-of-war were 
hunting through the West Indies for the vessel they knew was fitting out 
somewhere amid the coral reefs and sandy, desolate keys. But Maffitt 
kept up his courage, and before long found himself at sea, with a good 
stanch ship and crew, that, though short-handed, was made up of the very 
best material. But he had hardly cut loose from civilization, and started 
u\t upon his cruise, when he discovered, that, in the worry and haste of his 
departure, he had put to sea without rammers or sponges for his guns. He 
was in a desperate plight. Had the smallest United States man-of-war 
met the " Florida," the Confederate could not have offered the slightest 
resistance. She could not have even fired a gun. Capt. Maffitt ran his 
vessel into Havana in the hopes of being allowed to refit there ; but the 
fortunes of the Confederacy were waning fast, and all nations feared to 
^ive it aid or comfort. Seeing no hope, Mafifitt determined to dare all 
things, and make a dash for Mobile through the very centre of the block- 
ading-fleet. 

When the "Florida" put out from the harbor of Havana, only four 
or five men were iible to be on deck. The rest, with her commander, were 
below, deathly sick with yellow-fever. Under the command of a young 
lieutenant, her course was laid for Mobile ; and in a few hours the smoke of 
the blockading-vcssels could be seen rising on the clear air. An English 
ensign was hoisted, and the fleet ship dashed towards the nien-o'-war 
that lay in wait. A blank cartridge was fired to warn her away, but she 
paid no heed. Then came a solid shot that ploughed up the water before 
her bow. As this evoked no response, the whole fleet opened fire with shot 
and shell. " Had they depressed their guns but a little," said Maffitt 
afterwards, " the career of the ' Florida ' would have ended then and 
there." But, as it was, she sped on, with no signs of damage save the 
flying ends of cut cordage. She could not respond to the fire, for but 
three men remained on her deck. So, silently and grimly, she rushed 
through the fleet, and finally passed the last frigate. Quarter of an hour 
later she anchored under the guns of Fort Morgan. She liad received 
eight shots in her hull, and her masts were chipped by dozens of fragments 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



7^7 



of shell. After refitting, the " Florida " waited nearly a month for a chanee 
to get out again. Finally the moment arrived ; and she made her escape, 
though chased for four hours by the blockaders. Once on the open sea, 
she began the regular career of Confederate cruisers, burned unarmed ships, 
and avoided war-vessels, until she was run down in a neutral port by a 
Union man-of-war, whose commander acted in utter defiance of all the 
rules of modern warfare. In the career of the " Florida," after her escape 
irom Mobile, there was nothing of moment ; and her capture, treacherous 
as it was, brought more discredit upon the Northern arms than did her 
denredations work injury to the Northern merchant-marine. 





CHAPTER XVII. 



.JPKRAriONS AROUT CHARLESTON. — THE BOMBARDMENT. THE SIEGE, AND THE CAPTURE, 



rii 



E have now reached the period at wiiich the rapid decline in the 
prospects of the Confederacy had become apparent, not only to 
its enemies, but to its friends. Throughout the South the stars 
and bars floated over only three strongholds of any importance, — 
Charleston, Mobile, and Wilmington. One after the other these were 
destined to fall, and their final overthrow was to be the work of the navy. 
It was no easy task in any one of the three instances to dislodge the 
Confederates from their positions ; for though beaten in the Middle States, 
driven from the Mississippi, and with their very citadel at Vicksburg in the 
hands of the Federals, they still fought with a courage and desperation 
that for a long time baffled the attacks of the Unionists. 

From the very opening of the war, Charleston Harbor had been the 
scene of naval hostilities. The Confederates, looking upon their moulder- 
ing wharves, and vessels tugging idly at their chains, then looking out 
to sea past Fort Sumter, could see the ships of the blockading-squadron 
maintaining the watchful guard that was slowly reducing the city \o 
penury. What wonder that the blood of the good people of Charleston 
boiled, and that they built, and hurled against their hated enemy, weird 
788 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 789 

naval monsters, shapeless torpedo-boats running beneath the water, or 
huge rams that might even batter in the heavy walls of Fort Sumter ! 

One attack so made was successful to a certain extent. It was in 
l'"ebruary, 1864, that an inventive genius in the beleaguered city brought 
out a steam torpedo-boat. The craft was about twenty-five feet long, shaped 
like a cigar, built of boiler iron, and propelled by a screw. She had no 
smoke-stack, and her deck barely rose above the surface of the water. 
Running out from her bow was a stout spar fifteen feet long, bearing at its 
end a huge torpedo charged with two hundred pounds of powder. Just 
before nine o'clock one night, the lookout on the deck of the frigate 
" Housatonic " saw this strange object approaching the ship. It was a 
bright night, with no sea on. As yet torpedoes were hardly known, so 
the lookout took it for a large fish, and simply watched with interest its 
playful movements. Not until it came so close that no guns could be 
brought to bear, did any suspicion of danger enter the lookout's mind. 
Then there was the roll of the alarm-drums ; while the men rushed to the 
side, and poured a fierce fire from small-arms on the mysterious object. 
The " Housatonic " started her engines, and tried to escape ; but, before any 
headway could be gained, the launch dashed alongside, and a slight jar was 
felt. Then, with a tremendous roar, a huge column of water was thrown 
high in air, washing away men and boats from the deck of the war-ship. A 
hole large enough to drive a horse through was rent in the hull of the ship. 
Great beams were Ijrokcn in twain, the heaviest guns were dismounted, and 
men were hurled fifty feet into the air. In five minutes the ship had gone 
to the bottom, and boats from other vessels were picking up the crew. The 
launch escaped in the excitement. 

The Union sailor-boys did not let the Confederates outdo them in dash 
and pluck. One of the cleverest bits of work in the whole war was done 
by four boat-crews from two men-of-war on the Charleston station. Word 
had been brought to the blockaders, that, far up a little deep and narrow 
creek, a large steamship was loading with cotton, expecting to reach the 
ocean through the labyrinth of inlets that fairly honeycomb the South 
Carolina coast. Should she once get into that network of water-ways, it 
would require a whole fleet to catch her; for there was no telling at what 
point she might emerge. 

It was at once determined to try to capture her as she lay at her deck, 



79° BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



and four boats' crews of picked men were sent out on the expedition. Jt 
.vas early evening when they set out ; and all through the dark night they 
pulled away, threading the mazes of the tidal inlets. Just as the eastern 
horizon was beginning to grow gray with the coming dawn, they came in 
sight of their destination. Sure enough, there on the bank of the river 
was a little Southern village, changed into a prosperous town by the block- 
ade-runners that had evidently been making this place a harbor for some 
tii.ic. 

All was dark and silent as the grave. Confident in their fancied security, 
the blockade-runners had all turned in, leaving no one on guard. The 
steamer was loaded, and ready to sail in the morning; and the thin wreaths 
■of smoke rising fiom her smoke-stack told that the fires were up. Stealthily 
the sailors pulled alongside, and clambered on deck. Without a word they 
stole below, put the crew under guards, and rushed into the engine-room, 
where they found the engineer dozing on his stool. He was ordered to get 
underway at once; and, though he looked rather dazed, he obeyed the order. 
\nd in fifteen minutes the steamer was speeding down-stream, leaving the 
,j|i.l town still asleep. 

One man alone of all the townspeople had seen the capture. A negro, 
hiding behind a pile of lumber on the dock, had watched the whole affair, 
and, as if struck dumb with astonisliment, failed to give the alarm until the 
steamer was out of sight down the winding stream. The blue-jackets took 
their capture safely out of the enemy's lines, and the ne.xt day it was sent 
to New York as a prize. 

While the navy was keeping the port of Charleston sealed, and every 
now and then beating back the improvised gunboats that the Confederates 
sent out in the forlorn hope of breaking through the blockade, the armies 
of the North were closing in upon the doomed city. All the North cried 
aloud for the capture of Charleston. It was the city which fired the first 
gun of the war. Let it be reduced ! On every available point of land a 
Union battery was built. Far out in the swamps back of the city, where 
it. was thought no living thing save reptiles could e.\ist, the soldiers of tb.e 
North had raised a battery, mounting one two-hundred-pound gun. When 
a young lieutenant was ordered to build this battery, he looked the ground 
over, and reported the thing impossible. " There is no such word as impos- 
sible," sternly answered the colonel. " Set to work, and call for whatever 
you need to secure success." 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 



791 



The next day the lieutenant, who was a bit of a wag, made a requisition 
on the quartermaster for one hundred men eighteen feet high, to wade 
through mud sixteen feet deep. Pleasantry is not appreciated in war; and 




the officer was arrested, but soon secured his release, and built the battery 
with men of ordinary height. 

In April, 1862, Admiral Du Pont had lined his iron-clads and monitors 
up before the beetling walls of I'ort Sumter, and had hurled solid shot 
for hours, with only the effect of brcai<ing away sharp corners and projecting 



792 BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 

edges of the fort, but leaving it still as powerful a work of defence as ever. 
The little monitors exposed to the terrible fire from the guns of Sumter 
were fairly riddled ; and, when the signal was finally made to withdraw from 
the action, the humblest sailor knew that Charleston would only fall after 
a siege as protracted and wearisome as that of Vicksburg. 

The investment of Charleston lasted from the date of that first attack 
upon Fort Sumter until 1S65. From time to time the war-vessels would 
throw a few shells into the city, as a reminder to the inhabitants that they 
were under surveillance. Early in the siege the Swamp Angel, as the big 
gun back in the swamp was called, began sending hourly messages, in the 
form of two-hundred-pound shells, into the cit)'. In one quarter, where 
the shells fell thickest, a severe fire was started, which raged fiercely, driving 
people from their homes, and reducing whole blocks to ashes ; while the 
deadly shells aided in the work of destruction. But the life of the Swamp 
Angel, whose shells were the most destructive, was but short ; for, after a 
few days' work, it burst, scattering the sand-bags, of which the battery was 
built, far and wide over the swamp. 

The officers of the army, who were bringing their troops nearer and 
nearer to the city, expected the iron-clad vessels to steam boldly up the 
harbor, and compel a surrender of the city ; but the naval officers dared not, 
owing to the torpedoes with which the channel was thickly planted. If 
Sumter could only be captured, the torpedoes could be searched out and 
easily removed ; and, with this thought in mind, a number of bold sailors 
fitted out an expedition to attack the fort. Thirty boats, filled with armed 
men, made their way to the base of the shattered walls of the fort. As they 
came up, not a sign of life was to be seen about the huge black monster that 
had so long kept the iron-clads at bay. Rapidly and silently the men 
swarmed from their boats, and, led by three brave officers, began the ascent 
of the sloping walls. "The Johnnies are asleep," they whispered to each 
other : " we have the fort this time." But the Johnnies were wide awake, and 
waiting behind those grim bastions until the proper moment should arrive. 
Higher and higher climbed the blue-jackets ; and they were just about to 
spring over the last barrier, when there rose before them a wall of men and 
a deadly fire of musketry, and a storm of hand-grenades cut their ranks to 
pieces. Around the corner of the fort steamed a small gunboat, which 
opened fire on the assailants. The carnage was terrible ; and the sailors 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 793 



were driven back to their boats, leaving two hundred dead and wounded, and 
three stands of colors, as trophies for the garrison. 

After that grapple with the giant fortress, the Federals did not again try 
to come to close quarters ; but, keeping at a distance, maintained a steady 
fire upon the fort, which drove its defenders from the guns, and enabled the 
Union troops to throw up batteries upon all the neighboring islands. The 
fleet then remained on blockading-service until Feb. 18, 1865, when the Con- 
federates evacuated the city, and left the fort to the victorious Federals. 
Five years after the date when Major Anderson with his little band of 
soldiers had marched out of Sumter, leaving the fort to the enemy, the same 
gallant officer returned, and with his own hand hoisted the' same tattered 
flag over the almost ruined fortress, amid salvos of artillery and the cheers 
of a victorious army and navy. 




CHAPTER XVIII. 



THE BATTLE OF MOBILE BAY, 



pSIi^lHE last two actions of the United States navy in the civil war 
^^1 ^M were destined to be the grandest successes of a long record of 

[J^ daring and successful exploits. Farragut at Mobile, and Porter 
at Fort Fisher, added to their wondrous careers the cap-sheaves 
of two victories wrested from apparently unconquerable adversaries. 

It was on a bright August morning in 1864 that Admiral Farragut 
stood on the deck of his stanch frigate the " Hartford," that had borne 
him through so many desperate battles. Around the flag-ship were clus- 
tered the vessels of the Gulf squadron. There was the battered old 
"Brooklyn," scarred with the wounds of a dozen fights; the "Rich- 
mond " and the " Itasca." that received their baptism of fire at the .fight 
below New Orleans. In all there were fourteen wooden vessels and four 
iron-clad monitors assembled in front of the strongest combination of harbor 
defences that war-ships ever yet dared attack. Yet Farragut was there 
that bright summer morning to enter that bay, and batter the forts of the 
enemy into subjection. -To capture the city was not his purpose, — that he 
left to the army, — but the harbor forts and the great ram " Tennessee '' 
must strike their colors to the navy. 

Before arranging for the attack, the admiral made a rcconnoissancc, the 
794 




1 »i 



f 







z> 

Ow 

I w 

m 2 

Z30 
O 



BLUE-JACKETS OF 'oi. 795 

results of which are thus told by one of his officers : " On the afternoon 
of the day of our arrival, Admiral Farragut, with the commanding officers of 
the different vessels, made a reconnoissance on the steam-tender 'Cow- 
slip,' running inside of Sand Island, where the monitors were anchored, 
and near enough to get a good view of both forts. On the left, some two 
miles distant, was Fort Gaines, a small brick-and-earth work, mounting a 
few heavy guns, but too far away from the ship-channel to cause much 
uneasiness to the fleet. Fort Morgan was on the right, one of the strong- 
est of the old stone forts, and greatly strengthened by immense piles of 
sand-bags covering every portion of the exposed front. The fort was 
well equipped with three tiers of heavy guns, some of them of the best 
English make, imported by the Confederates. In addition, there was in 
front a battery of eleven powerful guns, at the water's edge on the beach. 
All the guns, of both fort and water battery, were within point-blank 
range of the only channel through which the fleet could pass. The Rebels 
considered the works impregnable, but they did not depend solely upon 
them. Just around the point of land, behind Fort Morgan, we could see 
that afternoon three saucy-looking gunboats and the famous ram 'Ten- 
nessee.' The latter was then considered the strongest and most powerful 
iron-clad ever put afloat ; looking like a great turtle, with sloping sides cov- 
ered with iron plates si.K inches in thickness, thoroughly riveted together, and 
having a formidable iron beak projecting under the water. Her armament 
consisted of si.x heavy guns of English make, sending a solid shot weigh- 
ing one hundred and ten pounds, — a small affair compared with the heavy 
guns of the present time, but irresistible then against every thing but the 
turrets of the monitors. In addition to these means of resistance, the 
narrow channel in front of the fort had been lined with torpedoes. These 
were under the water, anchored to the bottom, and were chiefly in the shape 
of beer-kegs filled with powder, from the sides of which projected numerous 
little tubes containing fulminate, which it was expected would be exploded 
by contact with the passing vessels. 

" Except for what Farragut had already accomplished on the Mississippi. 
it would have been considered a foolhardy experiment for wcxxlen vessels to 
attempt to pass so close to one of the strongest forts on the coast ; but 
when to the forts were added the knowledge of the strength of the ram, and 
the supposed deadly character of the torpedoes, it may be imagined that the 



79^ BLUE-JACKETS OF '61. 

coming event impressed the person taking his first glimpse of naval warfare 
as decidedly hazardous and unpleasant. So daring an attempt was never 
made in any country but this, and was never successfully made by any com- 
mander except Farragut, who in this, as in his previous exploits in passing 
the forts of the Mississippi, proved himself the greatest naval commander 
the world has ever seen. It was the confidence reposed in him, the recol- 
lection that he had never failed in any of his attempts, and his manifest 
faith in the success of the projected movement, that inspired all around 
him." 

When the reconnoissance was completed, the admiral called a council of 
his captains in the ward-room of the " Hartford," and announced that the 
attack would be made early the following morning. The council over, each 
commander returned to his ship, there to make ready for the dread business 
of the morrow. The same writer whom we have before quoted tells how 
the night before a battle is spent by brave men not afraid of death : — 

"At sunset the last order had been issued. Every commanding officer 
knew his duty, and unusual quiet prevailed in the fleet. The waters of the 
Gulf rested for a time from their customary tumult, a gentle breeze relieved 
the midsummer heat, and the evening closed upon us as peacefully as if we 
had been on board a yachting squadron at Newport. During the early part 
of the night, the stillness was almost oppressive. The ofificers of the ' Hart- 
ford ' gathered around the capacious ward-room table, writing what they 
knew might be their last letters to loved ones far away, or giving to friends 
messages and instructions in case of death. There were no signs of fear; 
but, like brave and intelligent men, they recognized the stern possibilities 
of the morrow, and acted accordingly. 

" But this occupied but little time ; and then, business over, there fol- 
lowed an hour of unrestrained jollity. Many an old story was retold, and 
ancient conundrum repeated. Old officers forgot for the moment their 
customary dignity, and it was evident that all were exhilarated and stimu- 
lated by the knowledge of the coming struggle. Capt. Heywood of the 
marines proposed a final 'walk-around;' Tyson solemnly requested in- 
formation as to ' Which would you rather do or go by Fort Morgan .' ' 
and all agreed they would prefer to 'do.' La Rue Adams repeated the 
benediction with which the French instructor at the naval academy was 
wont to greet his boys as they were going into examination : ' Veil, fellows, 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. ' 797 



I hope ve vill do as veil as I hope ve vill do.' Finally, Chief Engineer 
Williamson suggested an adjournment to the forecastle for a last smoke, 
and the smoking club went forward ; but somehow smoke had lost its cus- 
tomary flavor, and, after a few whiffs, all hands turned in, to enjoy what 
sleep would come." 

When the morning dawned, the men were called to quarters, and the 
advance upon the forts was begun at once. It was a foggy morning, and 
the ships looked like phantom vessels as they moved forward in line of 
battle, with the "Brooklyn" in the van. Second came the "Hartford," 
with the admiral high up in the rigging, where he could overlook the whole 
scene. 

"Nearly every man had his watch in his hand, and waited for the first 
shot. To us, ignorant of every thing going on above, every minute seemed 
an hour ; and there was a feeling of great relief when the boom of the first 
gun was heard. This was from the monitor 'Tecumseh,' at forty-seven 
minutes past six o'clock. Presently one or two of our forward guns opened, 
and we could hear the distant sound of the guns of the fort in reply. Soon 
the cannon-balls began to crash through the deck above us, and then the 
thunder of our whole broadside of twelve Dahlgren guns kept the vessel in 
a quiver. But as yet no wounded were sent down, and we knew we were 
still at comparatively long range. In the intense excitement of the occa- 
sion, it seemed that hours had passed ; but it was just twenty minutes from 
the time we went below when an officer shouted down the hatchwav : 
'Send up an army signal-officer immediately : the 'Brooklyn' is signalling.' 
In a moment the writer was on deck, where he found the situation as fol- 
lows : The 'Brooklyn,' directly in front of us, had stopped, and was backing 
and signalling; the tide was with us, setting strongly through the channel, 
and the stopping of the 'Brooklyn' threatened to bring the whole fleet into 
collision and confusion ; the advance vessels of the line were trying to back 
to prevent a catastrophe, but were apparently not able to overcome the force 
of the current ; and there was danger not only of collision, but of being 
drifted on shore." 

While the fleet was thus embarrassed and hampered, the gunners in the 
forts were pouring in their shot thick and fast. On the decks of the ships 
the most terrible scenes of death were visible. Along the port side the 
bodies of the dead were ranged in long rows, while the wounded were carried 



798 BLUI::-JACKETS OF '61. 



below, until the surgeon's room was filled to its last corner. One poor 
fellow on the "Hartford" lost both legs by a cannon-ball, and, falling, 
threw up both arms just in time to have them carried away also. Strange 
to say, he recovered from these fearful wounds. 

Just as the fight was at its hottest, and the vessels were nearing 
the line, the passage of which meant victory, there went up a cry from the 
whole fleet, "The 'Tccumsehl' Look at the ' Tecumseh ! ' " All eyes 
were turned on the monitor, and every one saw that she was sinking. She 
staggered for a moment, and went down with a rush, carrying her brave 
commander and over a hundred of her crew. A few escaped, the last of 
whom was the pilot. As the pilot was rushing for the hatchway that led 
to the open air and to life, he met at the foot of a narrow ladder Commander 
Craven. Craven stepped back, saying gravely, "After you, pilot;" and 
the pilot passed out. "There was nothing after me," said he, in relating the 
story afterwards ; " for as I sprang out of the hatchway the water rushed in, 
carrying all behind me to the bottom." 

This terrible sight made the ships stop for a moment in some confusion ; 
but Farragut signalled sternly from his flagship, " Go on," and all advanced 
again. As the fight grew fiercer, the admiral grew tired of being on the 
second ship in the line, and ordered the " Hartford " to forge ahead. 

"On board a war stealer the engines are directed by the tap of a bell, 
the wires connected with which lead to the quarter-deck. One stroke of 
the bell means 'go ahead;' two, 'stop;' three, 'back;' and four, 'go ahead 
as fast as possible.' Leaning down through the shrouds to the officer on 
deck at the bell-pull, the admiral shouted, 'Four bells, eight bells, sixteen 
BELLS ! Give her all the steam you've got ! ' The order was instantly trans- 
mitted, and the old ship seemed imbued with the admiral's spirit ; and 
running past the "Brooklyn" and the monitors, regardless of fort, ram, 
gunboats, and the unseen foe beneath, dashed ahead, all alone, save for her 
gallant consort, the " Metacomet' " 

But by this time the fleet was well abreast of the forts, and now, pouring 
out broadside after broadside, they swept along past the terrible ramparts. 
The Confederate gunboats had found the fight too hot for them, and had 
fled for shelter, with the exception of the dreaded "Tennessee," which 
seemed to be holding itself in reserve. It was but a short time before the 
vessels were safely past the fort, and out of range, floating on the smooth 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 799 

waters of the inner bay. Then the crews were piped to breakfast, and all 
hands began to recount their narrow escapes. 

But the end was not yet, for the ram " Tennessee " was now ready to try 
her mettle with the fleet. Lieut. Kinney of the " Hartford " tells graphi- 
cally the story of the desperate fight that the ram carried on alone against 
the whole attacking flotilla. 

" We were just beginning to feel the re-action following such a season 
of extreme peril and excitement, when we were brought to our senses by 
the sharp, penetrating voice of executive officer Kimberly calling all hands 
to quarters ; and a messenger-boy hurried down to us with the word, ' The 
ram is coming.' Every man hastened to his post, the writer to the quarter- 
deck, where the admiral and fleet-captain were standing". The cause of the 
new excitement was evident at once. The ' Tennessee,' as if ashamed of 
her failure, had left the fort and was making at full speed directly for the 
" Hartford," being then perhaps a mile and a half distant. The spectacle 
was a grand one, and was viewed by the Rebel soldiers in both forts, who 
were now out of range of our guns, and lined the walls. Few audiences 
have ever witnessed so imposing a sight. The great ram came on for a 
single-handed contest with the fleet. She was believed to be invulnerable, 
and had powerful double engines by which she could be easily handled ; 
while our monitors were so slow-gaited that they were unable to offer any 
serious obstacle to her approach. Farragut himself seemed to place his 
chief dependence on his wooden vessels. Doubtless the crowd of Con- 
federate soldiers who watched the fight expected to see the ' Tennessee ' 
sink the Yankee vessels in detail, and the chances seemed in its favor. . . 

"Meanwhile, the general signal, 'Attack the enemy,' had gone up to the 
peak of the ' Hartford ; ' and there followed a general slipping of cables, 
and a friendly rivalry to see which could quickest meet the foe. The 
' Monongahela,' with her artificial iron prow, was bravely in the lead, and 
struck the Rebel craft amidships at full speed, doing no damage to the ram, 
but having her own iron prow destroyed, and being otherwise injured. 
Next came the ' Lackawanna,' with a like result. The huge iron frame of 
the 'Tennessee' scarcely felt the shock, while the wooden bow of the 
Union ship was badly demoralized. For an instant the two vessels swung 
head and stern alongside of each other. In his official report, Capt. 
Marchand naively remarks : — 



SOO BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i, 



'"A few of the enemy were seen through their ports, who were using 
most opprobrious language. Our marines opened on them with muskets : 
even a spittoon and a holystone were thrown at them from our deck, which 
dr(^ve them away.' 

"The 'Tennessee' fired two shots through her bow, and then kept o. 
for the ' Hartford.' The two flag-ships approached each other, bow to bow. 
The two admirals, Farragut and Buchanan, had entered our navy together 
as boys, and up to the outbreak of the war had been warm friends. But 
now each was hoping for the overthrow of the other ; and, had Buchanan 
possessed the grit of Farragut, it is probable that moment would have 
witnessed the destruction of both vessels. For had the ram struck us 
square, as it came, bows on, it would have ploughed its way half through the 
'Hartford;' and, as we sank, we should have carried it to the bottom, 
unable to extricate itself. But the Rebel admiral was not desirous of so 
much glory ; and, just as the two vessels were meeting, the course of the 
' Tennessee ' was slightly changed, enough to strike us only a glancing 
blow on the port-bow, which left us uninjured, while the two vessels grated 
past each other. He tried to sink us with a broadside as he went by ; but 
only one of his guns went off, the primers in all the others failing. That 
gun sent a shell that entered the berth-deck of the 'Hartford,' and killed 
five men." 

But by this time the unequal conflict was becoming too much even for 
a man of Buchanan's courage. The armor of the ram was penetrated in 
several places, and at last came a shot that almost fatally wounded her 
commander. With the controlling mind that guided her course gone, the 
ram was useless ; and in a moment a white flag fluttered from the shattered 
stump of her flagstaff. And so closed the naval battle that effectually 
ended Confederate rule on the Gulf coast, and earned for Farragut his 
proudest laurels. 







CHAPTER XIX. 



THE FALL OF FORT FISHER. —THE NAVY ENDS ITS WORK. 



1 



N noticing the work of the blockading-fleet, we have spoken of the 
fine harbor of Wilmington, and the powerful works that defended 
its entrance. This Confederate strongliold was known as Fort 
Fisher, and had been for a long time a cause of anxiety and worry 
to the Northern authorities. The war had gone past F'ort Fisher. To the 
north and to the south of it, the country was under the sway of the Federal 
authorities ; but there in North Carolina stood the formidable bastions over 
which floated, in defiance of the laws of the Union, the stars and bars of the 
rapidly dying Confederacy. With its connected batteries, Fort I'isher 
mounted seventy-five guns, and was stronger than the celebrated Malakoff 
at Scbastopol. 

To reduce this stronghold, a joint naval and military expedition was 
fitted out ; and Gen. Butler was placed in command of the land forces, while 
Admiral Porter, torn from his beloved Western rivers, was given command 
of the fleet. Butler introduced a novel feature at the very opening of the 
siege. He procured an old steamer, and had her packed full of gunpowder. 
On a dark night this craft was towed close to the walls of the fort and set 
afire, in the hopes that she might, in blowing up, tear the works to pieces. 

801 



8o2 BLUE-JACKErS OP '6i. 



But in this the projectors were disappointed ; for the explosion, though a 
terrific one, did absolutely no harm to the Confederate works. When Porter 
finally did get into the fort, he asked a soldier what he thought of the 
attempt to blow them up. " It was a mighty mean trick," responded 
the Southerner satirically. "You woke us all up." 

After this fiasco had set all the world laughing, Butler retired voluntarily, 
and was succeeded by Gen. Terry ; and on Christmas Eve of the year 1864 
the fleet began the bombardment, although the land forces were not yet 
prepared for the assault. It was the grandest armada that was ever arrayed 
against any fortress. The thunder of nearly five hundred guns rent the air 
on that Christmis Eve, when carols were being sung in Christian churches 
throughout the world. Tremendous as was the cannonade, the earthworks 
were almost a match for it. The fort \Vas not a mass of masonry that these 
enormous guns might batter down and crumble into rubbish, but a huge 
bank of earth in which the shells might harmlessly bury themselves. But 
five hundred cannon are more than a match for any fort, and so they soon 
proved to be in this instance. Earthworks, guns, and men alike went down 
before them. The iron-clads were stationed about three-quarters of a mile 
from the fort, a little farther out were the frigates and heavy sloops, and 
still beyond were the smaller vessels, — all firing to cover themselves ; and 
all along the whole extended line there blazed one almost continuous sheet 
of flame, while the rolling thunder of the broadsides, and the defiant answer- 
ing roar from the guns of the forts, shook earth and sea. Clouds of dust 
went up from the bastions of the fort, and mingled with the floating smoke 
above. Within the forts, there was a scene of the most terrible confusion : 
guns were overturned, piles of cannon-balls were knocked to pieces and 
scattered about, and two ma,t;azines were blown up and scattered fragments 
all over the parade. In one hour and a quarter all the gunners were driven 
to the bomb-proofs, and the forts were silenced, not returning a single 
.>;hot. 

On Christmas morning Gen. Terry arrived with all his transports, and 
the attack was recommenced. Early in the morning the ships fell into 
position and began a slow fire, merely to cover the landing of the troops. 
Again the garrison was driven to the bomb-proofs ; and, indeed, so entirely 
were they chased from their posts, that a Federal soldier went into the 
fort and brought off a Confederate flag without ever having been seen 



BLUE-JACKETS OF '6i. 803 

by the garrison. All the troops were landed ; but for some reason the 
attack was deferred, much to the disgust of the officers of the fleet, who 
felt sure that the fort could be taken then by a dash. But the troops 
returned to their transports or went into camp, and it was not until weeks 
after that the assault was fairly made. In the mean time, the ships rode 
out the winter gales at their anchors, doing a little desultory firing to 
keep the garrison in a state of unrest. 

On the 14th of January the heavy bombardment began again, and 
again the troops were landed. By night it was seen that every gun on 
the face of the fort was disabled, and it was decided to storm the works 
the next day. Sixteen hundred sailors and four hundred marines were 
told off as the storming-party. 

Early in the morning the ships began a fierce cannonade, under cover 
of which the sailors and marines landed, and threw up light breastworks 
to cover them until the time should be ripe for the charge. The arrange- 
ments contemplated a fierce charge by the blue-jackets, armed with their 
cutlasses and revolvers ; while the marines, remaining in the rifle-pits, should 
cover the advancing party with a hot fire of musketry. The soldiers from 
the army-camp were to charge the fort on the other side. 

At three o'clock came the signal that all was ready. The whistles of 
the ships rent the air ; and the blue-jackets, with ringing cheers, dashed in 
a compact body up the beach. But in an instant the Confederate ramparts 
•■-vere black with men, and a furious fire of musketry rained down upon 
the sailors, who were helpless. The marines in the rifle-pits failed to do 
what was expected of them, and the sailors halted for a moment in surprise. 

As they stood, a most destructive fire rained down upon them ; and the 
poor fellows, grasping their useless cutlasses, turned and fled down the 
beach, leaving great heaps of dead and wounded behind. Then the Con- 
federates, thinking the day was theirs, sprang on the ramparts, and began 
a vigorous cheer just as the Union soldiers came pouring over the land- 
ward face of the fort. Then ensued a fierce hand-to-hand fight that lasted 
for hours. The blue-jackets, encouraged, rushed back to the fight, and 
now at close quarters swung their cutlasses with deadly effect, until step 
by step the Confederates were driven out of the fort. Then the fleet 
opened upon them, and they fled for dear life while a sailor sprang to the 
flagstaff and pulled down the Confederate flag. Fort Fisher had fallen. 



804 BLUli-JACKEiTS OF '6i. 



ic was a noble victory, and formed a fitting climax to the work of the navy 
throughout that great war. 

With the fall of Fort Fisher, the navy ceased to be a prominent factor 
in the war. Its worlv was done. Along the seacoast, and inland as far 
as navigable rivers extended, the ships of the North had carried the starry 
banner ; and the sailor-boys of the North had defended it. And their 
opponents, whether on sea or shore, had shown themselves courageous 
and dashing, and worthy to be numbered as men of the same nation as 
those who proved the victors. And who can doubt, that, should the need 
arise, the sons of these men will show that they have in their veins the 
blood that animated the Blue-Jackets of '6i ? 




PART IV 
BLUE JACKETS IN TIMES OF PEACE 



805 




CHAPTER I. 

POLICE SERVICE ON THE HIGH SEAS. WAR SERVICE IN ASIATIC PORTS. 

LOSSES BY THE PERILS OF THE DEEP. A BRUSH WITH THE PIRATES. 

ADMIRAL RODGERS AT COREA. SERVICES IN ARCTIC WATERS. THE 

DISASTER AT SAMOA. THE ATTACK ON THE " BALTIMORE'S " MEN AT 

VALPARAISO. — LOSS OF THE " KEARSARGE." THE NAVAL REVIEW. 




JHE years immediately following the civil war were particularly 
quiet and uneventful for the navy. The department was chipfly 
engaged in the work of reducing the forces and adapting the 
na\y to the changed conditions. At the termination of the war 
an immense naval armament had been developed, and the navy had as 
sumed a magnitude which made the United States foremost among the 
naval powers. This force was gradually reduced to a peace standard. 
The volunteers were discharged and retired from service. The large 
number of captured and purchased vessels were disposed of. The home 
squadrons were withdrawn, and squadrons established abroad. The ships 
in foreign stations displayed an unprecedented energy and activity, visit- 
ing, in 1866, nearly every large port in the world, including several in 
China which had never before been entered by an American man-of-war. 
The reception of Rear-Admiral Hell in his flagship, the "Hartford," by the 
Japanese, was manifestly more hospitable than that given to any other 
nation. Admiral Farragut was made commander of the European squadron 

807 



8o8 BLUE-JACKETS IN TIMES OF PEACE. 



in 1867, and he was received with distinguished attention by the sovereigns 
and dignitaries of Europe. The " Swatara," of the European squadron, was 
ordered, in November, 1 866, to Civita Vecchia, a port in Italy, to bring to 
the United States John H. Surratt, who was charged with being implicated 
in the assassination of Lincoln. The fugitive was apprehended, but he es- 
caped, and fled into the papal dominions. He was recaptured at Alexandria, 
and in February was delivered to the marshal of the District of Columbia. 

The Japanese made further advances of a friendly character toward the 
United States in 1867, when the "Shenandoah," of the Asiatic squadron, 
with the American minister aboard, arrived at the port of Hakodadi, and the 
first salute ever given in honor of a foreign minister was fired. Just pre- 
vious to this, the Japanese government had expressed its willingness to open 
an additional port on the western coast to foreign trade, and Commodore 
Goldsborough, in command of the " Shenandoah," visited and made surveys 
of several harbors in which no foreign ship had ever before anchored. 

News was received by Rear- Admiral Bell, in the autumn of 1866, that 
the schooner " General Sherman" had been wrecked in the Ping Yang River, 
one of the streams of Corea, and that her officers, crew, and passengers had 
been murdered by the natives. The Rear- Admiral despatched one of the 
vessels of his squadron, the " Wachusett," to investigate the matter, and 
demand from the authorities that the survivors, if any, be delivered on board 
the " Wachusett." The King of Corea was communicated with, but without 
satisfactory results. It was found that there were no survivors of the 
schooner. A few months afterward information reached Rear-Admiral Bell 
that a similar outrage had been perpetrated on the southeast end of the 
island of Formosa. It was reported that the American bark " Rover " had 
been wrecked, and all on board murdered. Commander Febiger, with the 
" Ashuelot," found that the crime had been committed by a horde of savages, 
who, the authorities of the island said, were not obedient to their laws. 
Rear-Admiral Bell left Shanghai in June, with the "Wyoming" and " Hart- 
ford," with the intention of destroying, if possible, the lurl<ing-placcs of the 
savages. On the i8th of June the vessels anchored half a mile from shore, 
and 181 officers, sailors, and marines were landed, under the command of 
Commander Belknap, of the " Hartford," and Lieutenant-Commander Alex- 
ander S. Mackenzie. As the company approached the hills the natives, 



BLUE-JACKETS IN TIMES OF PEACE. 



dressed in clouts, with tlieir bodies painted, and muskets f;listening in the 
sun, descended to meet them, fighting from the long grass. After deliver- 
ing their fire, they would retreat, and form ambuscades, into which the men 
from the ships frequently fell in charging after them. In one of these Lieu- 
tenant-Commander Mackenzie was mortally wounded. After fighting under 
the intensely hot sun for six hours, during which period several of the attack- 
ing party suffered sunstroke, they returned to their ships, the expedition 
having proved a failure. 

The navy performed a valuable maritime service in 1 867, by locating and 
surveying a shoal which was reported to exist twenty miles west of Georges 
Shoal, and directly in the track of vessels bound to and from Europe. The 
shoal was found by Commander Chandler with the United States steamer 
" Don," and mariners were made cognizant of a danger which probably had 
been fatal to many vessels. In the same year the " Sacramento," Captain 
Napoleon Collins, while on an important cruise, was wrecked on the reefs 
off the mouth of the Kothapalem River in the Bay of Bengal. The vessel 
proved a total wreck, but without loss of life. Those aboard effected thrill- 
ing escapes by means of rafts. The navy suffered another misfortune in 
1868, in the drowning of Rear- Admiral Bell, commander of the Asiatic 
squadron, Lieutenant-Commander J. H. Reed, and ten of the crew of the 
Admiral's barge, which was upset in crossing the bar near Osaka, few days 
after the opening by the Japanese of that port and Kioto to foreigners. An- 
other disaster occurred in 1869. Twenty-seven officers and men of the 
" Fredonia" were drowned at Arica, on the western coast of South America 
The " Fredonia" and " Wateree" were resting at anchor when a shock of 
earthquake was felt. The sea receded and left the former vessel on the 
bottom; a moment afterward the wa\-e rolled back, breaking the ship into 
fragments. The "Wateree" was thrown upon the shore; its position was 
such that the expense of launching would have been greater than the worth 
of the vessel, and it was consequently sold. A year previous to its catas- 
trophe, the " Monongahela," in the harbor of St. Croix, was swept from her 
moorings by the force of an earthquake, and carried by a wave over the 
warehouses into one of the streets of the town. Five of her crew were lost. 
The vessel, after an interval of some months, was relaunched. 

The Cuban rebellion, which began in 1 868, occasioned activity on the 



8lO BLUE-JACKETS IN TIMES OF PEACE. 

part of some of the cruisers to prevent violations of the neutrality law and 
to protect the interests of American citizens. A company of Cuban filibus- 
ters, encamped on Gardiner's Island, near the eastern end of Long Island, were 
captured by Lieutenant Breese, in command of the revenue cutter " Mahon- 
ing," and fifty marines. The prisoners, to the number of one hundred and 
twenty-five, were taken to New York. On the island of Cuba some outrages 
were perpetrated upon American citizens by the Spanish authorities. Rear- 
Admiral Hoff, in command <.f the North ^Atlantic squadron, was ordered to 
Santiago de Cuba for the better protection of American interests, and no 
further aggressions occurred. 

Two disasters in the navy ushered in the year 1 870. In the Bay of Yeddo, 
on January 24th, the steam-sloop " Oneida," just after leaving Yokohama for 
Hong Kong, was run into and sunk by the English steamer " Bombay," with 
the loss of twenty officers and ninety-si.x men. The tug "Marie" was sunk 
in the same month, with a loss of four men, in Long Island .Sound. In 
October of the same year, Commander Sicard of the " .Saginaw" determined 
to run to Ocean Island, a small island about a hundred miles west of th.e 
Midways, to rescue any sailors who might have been shipwrecked there. 
The " Saginaw" was herself v.Tccked on a reef off the perilous coast, but 
her mcii, after extreme exertions, landed safely on the shores of the unin- 
habited island. Here they lived for some months. They were rescued by 
a steamer from the Sandwich Islands, sent to their aid by the authorities of 
the islands, wh.o had been informed of the accident by William Ilalford, one 
of the crew, who, with Lieutenant Talbot and three others, h.ad volunteered 
to mal<e the trip fnim Ocean Island to Honolulu, a distance of 1,500 miles, 
\n an open boat. After thirty-one dajs of great danger and hardship, they 
arrived off one of the Hawaiian group of islands. In attempting to land, 
the boat was upset in the surf, and all but Halford were drowned. 

At various times during the years 1871 and 1872, the marines fif the 
Brooklyn Navy Yard rendered very efficient aid to the revenue officers in 
quelling riots in Brooklyn which grew out of the raiding of illicit distilleries. 
In July, 1 87 1, Captain Gilbert was killed and several men wounded bv the 
rioters. 

The steamer " Forward," bearing the San Salvador flag, landed 200 
desperadoes at Guaymas, Mexico, in June, 1870, and these outlaws took pos- 



BLUE-JACKETS IN TIMES Or PEACE. $11 



session of the custom-house. They forced the foreign merchants to furnish 
them with funds and goods, and compelled the United States' consul to 
supply coal for their vessel, their purpose being to become pirates on a large 
scale. Commander Low, of the " Mohican," upon learning these facts, 
sailed from Mazatlan, and overtook the " Forward" while still in the Gulf of 
California. She was attacked in the harbor of ]5oca Teacapan by six boat- 
loads of sailors and marines from the " Mohican," and was captured and 
burned. 

It seemed desirable, in 1871, that some arrangement should be made 
with the people of Corea whereby sailors wrecked upon these shores should 
have protection. With this end in view our Minister to China, accompanied 
by Rear-Admiral John Rodgers, with tiie "Colorado," the "Alaska," the 
" Benicia," the " Monocacy," and the " I'alos," vessels of the Asiatic squa- 
dron, sailed to Corea, anchoring in the Sale River. The local authorities 
were assured that the visit was a perfectly peaceful one, and they in turn 
gave evidences of a peaceful spirit. But when a party engaged in making 
surveys and soundings for the safety of commerce had got beyond a point 
where they could be protected by the cruisers' gun.s, they were fired upon 
the Coreans, and were forced to re-pass the Corean forts under a fierce can- 
mnade. Admiral Rodgers and the minister determined that an explanation 
should be at once demanded. No answer having been received from the 
Coreans after an interval of ten days, it was decided that an attack should 
oe made upon the forts from which the shots had been fired. A party of 
about 700 of the sailors and marines were landed, and after a march through 
mud which rose to their knees, the first fort was captured without serious 
resistance. The next day, other torts were easily taken, and preparations 
Vi'erc made to attack the horse.shoe-.shaped citadel, which was defended by a 
garrison of a thousand Corean soldiers. A few shells from the vcs.sels, judi- 
ciously planted among the Coreans, frightened and disconcerted them ; but 
tiicy made a stubborn fight until Ihcii- ammunition gave out. The attacking 
party swarmed over the walls. Then ensued a desperate hand-to-hand fight 
The Coreans expected no quarter, and fought till all who had not fled had 
been killed or wounded. Lieutenant Hugh McKee, who was the first man 
to climb over the ramparts, fell witli a mortal wound. Two hundred and 
fcr*y-seven dead Coreans were counted within the works. Live forts and a 



8i2 BLUE-JACKETS IN TIMES OF PEACE. 

large number of flags and cannon had been captured. The gallant conduct 
of the men of the navy made a deep impression on the people of the Chin.i 
coast and led to the increased consideration and safety of American citizens 
in those localities. 

On Saturday morning, November 26, 1877, occurred one of the most dis- 
astrous wrecks in the history of the navy. The steam sloop-of-\var " Huron" 
struck the rocks near Oregon Inlet, North Carolina, in a heavy gale and was 
wrecked, with the loss of nearly a hundred officers and men. The boats 
were washed from the davits and the thirty-four persons who were saved 
reached the shore by swimming. Ensign Lucien Young landed on the beach 
after desperate efforts, and spread the alarm. His sturdy activity resulted 
in the saving of several lives. 

The members of a naval exploring expedition, which had sailed in the 
"Polaris" for the Arctic regions in 1S71, were rescued from boats and the 
floating ice in Baffin's Bay in 1873, the " Tolaris" having been abandoned as 
a wreck. 

The United States steamer " Rodgers, " commanded by Lieutenant Kol^crt 
M. Berry, was detailed in 1881 to search for the e.xploring party organized by 
James Gordon Bennett and headed by Lieutenant-Commander DeLong, which 
had embarked in the " Jeannette" for the far north and had been last heard 
of in August, 1879. The "Rodgers" was burned and abandoned in .St. 
Laurence Bay, Siberia, in November, iSSi ; but Lieutenant Berry contnuied 
his search on the coast. In the early spring he learned that one party from 
the "Jeannette," that of Chief-Engineer Melville, had been saved and was 
searching for the other two parties which had become separated from the first 
in a storm while attempting to escape from the Arctic seas in open boats 
after the "Jeannette" had been crushed and sunk by the ice. Lieutenant 
Berry soon afterward met Chief-Engineer Melville's party and learned that 
the bodies of Lieutenant DeLong and his companions had been found. 
Search for the other party which had been led by Lieutenant Chi])p was 
continue.'., and the Navy Department fitted out another vessel, the " Alliance, " 
to aid in the possible rescue. But Lieutenant Chipp and his men were never 
foiuid. 

During the massacres by Egyptian troops under Arabi Pasha in Alex- 
andria, in 1882, when more than two hundred European residents were killed or 



BLUE-JACKETS IN TIMES OF PEACE. 813 

wounded, the flagship " Lancaster, " under Captain Gherardi, was in the harbor 
and afforded a place of refuge for large numbers of men, women, and children. 
A large body of marines with a detachment of na\al artillery landed in the 
city and were of much service in restoring order. 

Another Arctic expedition was fitted out in the spring of 1883. Three 
vessels, the "Thetis," "Alert," and "Bear," left New York by order of the 
Navy Department to search for Lieutenant Greely and his party, comprising 
what is known as the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition. After a long voyage, 
in which the vessels were several times in imminent peril, they passed around 
Cape Sabine and found Lieutenant Greely and the seven survivors of his party. 
Their condition was so enfeebled that they could have lived only a little longer. 
On August 8th the relief squadron and the rescued part arrived in New York. 

An insurrection broke out in the United States of Colombia in the spring 
of 1885, during which the city of Aspinwall was in great part destroyed. 
The affair assumed such a serious aspect that the vessels of the North 
Atlantic squadron, under Rear Admiral Jouett, were ordered to Aspinwall, 
and in addition to the fleet, the Navy Department sent a force consisting of 
about seven hundred and fifty from New York, for the special purpose of 
operating on shore. Upon his arrival at Aspinwall, on April loth, Rear- 
Admiral Jouett issued orders for the landing of a force to open the transit 
across the isthmus, and on the 12th, trains were run as usual. On April 
28th, the insurgents capitulated, and shortly afterward the United States 
naval force was withdrawn. 

One of the most severe disasters that ever befell the United States Navy 
in time of peace occurred on the i6th of March, 1889, when, during a hur- 
ricane in the harbor of Apia, Samoa, the "Trenton" and " Vandalia" were 
totally wrecked, and the " Nipsic" was run on shore to save her from de- 
struction. Five officers and forty-six men lost their liv^esin this catastrophe. 
Nothing that skill and experience could suggest was left undone to avert the 
disaster, but the vessels were equipped with old-fashioned engines, whose 
steam-power was not strong enough to withstand the fury of the gale. The 
value of high-pressure engines in war vessels was illustrated by the British 
ship "Calliope," which was able to steam out to sea, and thus escaped de- 
struction on the reefs. The " Trenton" and the " Vandalia," which had been 
two of the best of the old wooden fleet, were abandoned. The " Nipsic" 



8 14 BLUE-JACKETS IN TIMES OF PEACE. 

sailed for the Sandwich Islands, where she was refitted for active service. 
The natives of Samoa displayed great heroism in their efforts to save the 
.shipwrecked sailors, and were afterward rewarded by the United States 
government. Fifteen merchant vessels which were in the harbor were either 
sunk or run upon the shore, and the German naval vessels " Elber," " Adler," 
and " Olga" were wrecked, with the loss of many men. 

When the United States cruiser " Baltimore" was at anchor in the harbor 
off Valparaiso in October, 1891, shortly after the end of a Chilian rebellion, 
a number of the seamen were given liberty to go on shore. They were at- 
tacked by a mob in the streets of Valparaiso, and Petty Officer Charles 
Riggin was stabbed, and left to die. Another petty officer, Johnson, went 
to his assistance, and was attempting to carry him to an apothecary, when a 
squad of Chilian police, with fixed bayonets, came down the street. When 
at close quarters, they fired at Johnson. A shot passed through his clothes, 
and another entered Riggin's neck, inflicting a death-wound. Petty Officer 
Hamilton was dragged to jail dangerously wounded. As a result of the attack, 
two men, Riggin and Turnbull, died, and eighteen others were disabled by 
wounds. Thirty-si.x of the " Baltimore's" men were arrested, and treated by 
the Chilian police with extreme brutality. Investigation proved that all had 
been perfectly sober and well-behaved. The attack grew out of the bitter 
hostility of the Chilians toward the United States — a feeling largely due to 
false accusations in reference to the action of the navy during the Chilian 
revolution. The affair caused excitement and indignation in the United 
States, but was amicably settled. 

The most important assemblage of naval vessels ever seen in the waters 
of America took place in April, 1893, in celebration of the Columbian 
quadricentennial. Invitations had been sent to all the important maritime 
powers, and at the rendezvous in Hampton Roads, on April 24th, the com- 
bined fleet, under the direction of Rear-Admiral Gherardi, of the United 
States Navy, comprised twelve men-of-war of the United States, four of 
England, three of France, two of Italy, two of Germany, two of Russia, 
three of Brazil, and one of Holland. At New York, the squadron was joined 
by one more Russian, three Spanish, one Argentine vessel, and the " Mian- 
tonomoh," of the United States Navy, making a combined fleet of thirty-five 
ships-of-war. The President, on board the "Dolphin," reviewed the fleet 



BLUE-TACKETS IN TIMES OF PEACE. 815 



on April 27th, and the next day the armed battalions of the various nations, 
to the number of 3,815 men, marched through the streets of New York, 
and were reviewed by the Governor of the State. 

The navy suffered a severe loss in 1894, in the wreck of the famous old 
man-of-war "Kearsarge, " the conqueror of the "Alabama," which was 
wrecked February 2d on Roncador Reef, while on her way from Port au 
Prince to Bluefields, Nicaragua. Eight da)-s later her men were rescued by 
the " City of Para." 

One of the conspicuous features of the pageants which attended the open- 
ing of the Kiel Canal, between the North and the Baltic seas_, on June 19th, 
1895, was the fleet of war-vessels which assembled in the harbor at Kiel. 
It was the most remarkable ever seen in any waters, numbering over a hun- 
dred of the finest vessels in existence. A number of these, headed by the 
flagship " New York," belonged to the new navy of the United States. 
These ships provoked the admiration of all the naval authorities present, 
and their effective strength was noted and commented upon all over Europe. 




CHAPTER II. 

THE NAVAL MILITIA. A VOLUNTEER SERVICE WHICH IN TIME OF WAR WILL 

DE EFFECTIVE. HOW BOYS ARE TRAINED FOR THE LIFE OF A SAILOR. — 

CONDITIONS OF ENLISTMENT IN THE VOLUNTEER BRANCH OF THE SER- 
VICE. THE WORK OF THE SEAGOING MILITIA IN SUMMER. 




\W^ personnel of a navy is quite as important as its vessels. It has 
been said that a ship is worth what her captain and crew are worth. 
It is certainly true that a man-of-war, of whatever power, would be 
useless or worse than useless if her officers and men did not under- 
stand her wonderfully complicated construction nor know how to handle her. 
The officers of the United States navy are given this important instruction 
at the Naval Academy at Annapolis, and the rank and file of the men of the 
na\y, those who fill the positions of seamen and petty officers, are trained at 
the station in Coaster's Island Harbor, near Newport, R. I., and in the train- 
ing-ships when cruising. 

The training-station is designed to ensure the thorough efficiency of the 
corps of men enlisted in the service, and to provide for the manning of the 
vessels by American citizens instead of by foreigners. 

There was a time, and not a great while ago, when the gunners and 
crews of United States men-of-war were, with very few exceptions, aliens, 
who spoke the English language with difficulty, and who did not have, and 
could not be expected to have, any of the patriotic spirit which makes effec- 
tive fighters in naval engagements. While this condition- still exists to 
8i6 



BLUE-JACKETS IN TIMES OF PEACE. 817 

some extent, the growth of the apprentice system is bringing about a gradual 
change. 

As early as 1837 an attempt was made to establish a naval apprentice 
system. In that year Congress passed an act making it " lawful to enlist 
boys for the navy, not under thirteen nor over eighteen years of age, to serve 
until twenty-one." Within a iew months several boys were received as ap- 
prentices aboard naval vessels. Six years later, however, the system was 
abandoned as a failure, owing to a false impression which had gained wide 
currency that the apprentices would receive commissions in the navy. 

Capt. S. B. Luce and the officers of the practice-ship " Macedonian" in- 
vestigated the apprentice .systems at Portsmouth and Plymouth, England, 
twenty years afterward, and made such fav'orable reports that Secretary 
Welles was induced to revive it in the United States navy. This was done, 
and during the civil war the system was in successful operation, but soon 
after the close of the war it was again abandoned. 

In the following years the want of intelligent seamen of American birth 
in the navy was greatly felt, and in 1875 Secretary of the Navy Robeson 
deemed it advisable to resume the .enlistment of boys under the naval ap- 
prentice law, which was still in existence. As an experiment two hundred 
and fifty boys were enlisted and placed on the frigates " Minnesota" and 
" Constitution" and the sloops of war " Portsmouth" and " .Saratoga," which 
were commissioned as training-ships. Since 1875 the training-station and 
vessels have been very important features of the naval establishment. 

The regulations governing the enlistment of boys are simple and few in 
number. The boys must be between the ages of fourteen and sixteen years, 
of robust form, intelligent, of perfectly sound and healthy constitution, free 
from all physical defect or malformation, and of good moral character. They 
must be able to read and write, although in special ca.ses, when a boy shows 
general intelligence and is otherwise qualified, he may be enlisted notwith- 
standing the fact that his reading and writing are imperfect. Each boy 
presenting himself for enlistment must be accompanied by his father, mother, 
or, in case neither is living, by his legally appointed guardian, and must 
voluntarily sign an agreement to ser\'e in the navy till twenty-one years of 
age. Upon enlistment the boys are rated as third-class apprentices, and are 

paid $g a month. Deserving boys are rated second-class apprentices, and 
2o 



8l8 BLU&-JACKETS IN TIMES OF PEACE. 

receive pay of )> 1 5 a month after they have completed their term of service 
on a cruising training-ship. If they have served a year on a cruising ship 
of war they are considered properly qualified apprentices, and receive $21 a 
month. As the apprentices become proficient and their services are re- 
quired, they are transferred to the seagoing vessels. Upon the expiration 
of the enlistment of an apprentice he will, if recommended, receive an hon- 
orable discharge, and if he enlists again within three months, will be given 
pay for this period. The apprentices are under the immediate supervision 
of the Bureau of Navigation of the Navy Department, and applications for 
enlistment are made to the chief of that bureau at Washington, or to the 
officer commanding either the "Vermont," at the Brooklyn navy yard, or the 
" Richmond," stationed at the League Island yard, Philadel])hia. These 
were the recruiting-ships, from which the boys were being sent to the train- 
ing-station at Coaster's Island as soon as a squad of twenty were enlisted, 
at the period of this writing. Sometimes there have been more ships in this 
duty. 

There are usually about one hundred boys at the station at one time. 
They are taught to march, handle muskets, revolvers, broadswords, and 
cannon ; they go aloft so as to get practice with the sails, and are also made 
familiar with the management of boats and oars and boathooks. Two hours 
a day are devoted to lessons, consisting of arithmetic, reading, writing, spell- 
ing, geography, and grammar. Ample time is given for recreation, and in- 
nocent social pleasures are encouraged. 

There are two training-ships, besides the famous old ship " Constellation," 
which figured in the War of 18 12, at the station devoted to the use of the 
boys, and every six months one of these appears at Coaster's Island, and re- 
ceives the apprentices who have been at the station for half a year. The 
vessel then starts on a cruise to Europe if it is summer, and to the West In- 
dies in the winter. Each boy remains aboard a year, only half of the crew 
being changed at a time. Practice aloft and the life in general aboard a 
sailing vessel give him a broad general foundation of knowledge of the sea 
and ships, upon which he can build the special training and instruction he 
afterward gets upon a regular man-of-war. When he is transferred, upon 
the expiration of his year on the training-ship, he begins the task of master- 
lag the intricacies of a modern ship-of-war. Here he remains until his first 



BLUE-JACKETS IN TIMES OF PEACE. 819 

term of service has expired. If lie re-enlists and has shown aptitude for the 
service, he is sent to Washington naxy yard for a course of si.x months' in- 
struction in gunnery and special branches, such as electricity and torpedoes. 
He becomes a seaman gunner, with the billet and pay of a petty officer. 

A serious defect in the apprentice system, however, and one which makes 
\t impossible to man the vessels altogether with well-trained American citi- 
zens, is the fact that the majority of the apprentices do not re-enlist after re- 
ceiving their honorable discharge at the age of twenty-one, for the reason 
that the special training they have received enables them to secure better- 
paid places in civil life than are possible to them in the na\ry. In the gov- 
ernment service, too, they cannot attain the rank of officers, as there is no 
such jjrovision for the promotion of enlisted men in the navy as there is in 
the army. 

Secretary Tracy, in his report of i88g, forcibly called the attention of 
Congress to this condition. As a remedy he recommended that there be a 
statutory extension of the term of enlistment to twenty-four years of age. 
It was further recommended that the number of apprentices be increased 
from seven hundred and fifty to fifteen hundred, and that the course in the 
training-ships be extended by the formation of a special class for training in 
gunnery on board a ship devoted exclusively to this purpose. Congress has 
as yet taken no action upon these and numerous other recommendations 
which have been made for the improvement of the apprentice system, and 
they remain pertinent. 

The navy, however, in case of war, would not have to dejiend entirely 
upon apprentices and graduates of the training-station for its skilled seamen. 
The Naval Militia has become an organization that would render very effi- 
cient service if called upon by the government. It is composed of about 
three thousand highly intelligent and well-drilled young men, and has been 
organized in sixteen States. It bears the same relation to the navy that the 
National fiuard does to the regular army, and is therefore wholly under State 
control ; but it is subject to call, of course, by the federal government. 

The organization of the Naval Militia has been a growth of the last eight 
years, and is due in large measure to the reconstruction of the navy and the 
revival of activity and interest in naval affairs in the United .States. 

It was seen that the new vessels of modern and intricate construction and 



Sao BLUE-JACKETS IN TIMES OF PEACE. 



appliances should, in case of war, be manned by men skilled in the use of 
these appliances. The apprentice system brought to the navy a supply of 
apprentices, but the number would be totally inadequate in a naval war. A 
naval reserve force was an urgent necessity. 

The first step toward meeting this necessity was made in 1887 by Sena- 
tor Whitthorne, of Tennessee, who in that year introduced a bill " to create 
a naval reser\-e of auxiliary cruisers, officers, and men, from the mercantile 
marine of the United States." The measure did not pass, and the ne.xt year 
another was introduced by Senator Whitthorne, providing for the enrolment 
of a Naval Militia and the organization of naval reserve forces. According 
to this bill, it was to be lawful for States and Territories bordering on sea 
and lake coasts and navigable rivers to enroll and designate as the Naval 
Militia all seafaring men of whatever calling or occupation, and all men en- 
gaged in the navigation of the rivers, lakes, and other waters, or in the con- 
struction or management of ships and craft, together with ship-owners, and 
their employees, yacht-owners, members of yacht clubs and other associations 
for aquatic sports, and all e.x-officers and former enlisted men of the navy. 

The bill contemplated a naval reserve artillery and a naval reserve torpe- 
do corps. It did not become a law, but formed a basis for legislation in 
several of the States shortly afterward, although the original plan, as 
shown in the proposed measure, was modified to the extent of making the 
Naval Militia a State organization and forming it of volunteers irrespective 
of occupation. 

Massachusetts was the pioneer among the States in the organization of 
the Naval Militia. In May, 18S8, the legislature passed a bill authorizing 
the formation of "a naval battalion to be attached to the volunteer militia." 
This measure was prepared, with the assistance of others, by Lieutenant 
K)hn C. Soley, a retired officer of the United States navy, and he was after- 
ward energetic in putting it into successful operation. 

The next State to provide for a Naval Militia was Pennsylvania, whose 
legislature made the necessary law in 1889. On the same day the legisla- 
"ure of Rhode Island " established a naval battalion to be attached to the 
Rhode Island militia." In New York, in 1S89, a Stale Naval Militia of 
'.hree battalions of naval reserve artillery and a naval reserve torpedo corps, 
.0 consist of not less than four companies to a battalion, was established. 



BLUE-JACKETS IN TIMES OF PEACE. 



The practical work of the Naval Militia began in 1890, when the Massa- 
chusetts battalion drilled on the receiving-ship " Wabash," and the New 
York battalion on the receiving-ship " Minnesota." 

A very decided impetus was given to the movement in 1891 by the ap- 
propriation by Congress of $25,000 for arms and equipments for the Naval 
Militia, leaving the disbursement of the money to the discretion of the .Sec- 
retary of the Navy. Within the year California, North Carolina, Texas, and 
Maryland joined the States having battalions of Naval Militia, and at its 
close the force numbered 1,149 men. Progress was made also in 1891 in 
the method of drilling and instructing the members of some of the battal- 
ions. Those of New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island spent several 
days aboard the vessels of the Squadron of Evolution, under the command of 
Rear-Admiral J. C. Walker, and were given practice with the guns and 
boats, and participated in the ship's routine duties. 

Further appropriations of $25,000 each for the Naval Militia were made 
in 1892 and 1893. The legislatures of Vermont and South Carolina pro 
vided for battalions of the Naval Militia in 1892, and those which had been 
authorized, but not yet organized, in Maryland and Pennsylvania, were 
formed. During the summer of 1892 the members of the North Carolina 
Naval Militia were drilled on board the " Newark." The "Wabash," the 
"Chicago," and the " Atlanta" were used for drills by the Massachusetts 
battalions, and those of New York received their instruction on the " New 
Hampshire," the " Chicago," and the " Atlanta." The California Naval 
Militia drilled on board the "Charleston." 

The Naval Militia was increased in 1893 by battalions formed in North 
Carolina, Michigan, Illinois, Georgia, and Connecticut, under laws of these 
various legislatures of that year, and the force numbered 2,376 officers and 
men. New Jersey and Virginia, in 1894, organized battalions of the Naval 
Militia, and in that year Congress passed an important act, empowering the 
Secretary of the Navy to lend temporarily to any State vessels "not suitable 
or required for the general service, together with such of her apparel, charts, 
books, and instruments of navigation as he may deem proper, said vessel to 
be used only by the regularly organized Naval Militia of the State for the 
purposes of drill and instruction." Even interior .States, with no bodies of 
water other than rivers, have organized naval battalions. At Pittsburg the 



BLUE-JACKETS IX TIMES OF PEACE. 



organization owns a small armored gunboat, of the sort that was so useful 
on inland waters in the civil war. This vessel was presented to the militia 
b\- a wealthy manufacturer. Few commands, however, are so fortunate. 
Most take advantage of the law authorizing the loan of government ships. 
Under this law the following vessels were lent : the " Minnesota" to Massa- 
chusetts, the " Wyandotte" to Connecticut, the " New Hampshire" to New 
York, the " Portsmouth" and the " Ajax" to New Jersey, the " St. Louis" to 
Pennsylvania, the " Dale" to Maryland, and the " Nantucket" to North Caro- 




TORPEDO BOAT "GUSHING." 



Una. The other States have been compelled to get along without vessels, 
for the reason that there have been no others available. 

During the summer of 1894 the Massachusetts brigade of the militia en- 
camped for drill on Lovell's Island, Boston Harbor, and the monitor " Pas- 
saic" was lent to the State. There were also drills and target-practice on 
the " Miantonomoh" and the " Atlanta." The forces of Connecticut and 
Rhode Island received instruction on the " Miantonomoh" and the " Atlanta" 
respectively, and New York's battalion spent a week on board the " New 
York" and the " .San Francisco" in Gardiner's l?a\, Long Island. A part of 
the Pennsylvania force had target-practice at sea on board the " New York," 
and the North Carolina battalion received instruction on the" Montgomery." 



BLUE-JACKETS IN TIMES OF PEACE. 823 

The California division helped to man the " Olympia" for a week in 
1895, taking the places of the crew; the Maryland contingent had a week's 
cruise on the " Dale," and the First Naval Battalion of New York carried 
out a scheme of reconnoissance and distant boat work along the northern 
shore of Long Island, encamping on Shelter Island. The party was accom- 
panied by the torpedo boat " Gushing." Most of the other battalions had 
their quota of drill and instruction. 

These details of the sunmier operations of the Naval Militia will convey 
an idea of the manner in which its members are being prepared for the emer- 
gencies of war. In addition to the summer work, there is drill in armories 
in the winter. This course of training, in conjunction with the intelligence 
and enthusiasm of the young men of the Naval Militia, who are of the best 
classes in this country, has made an organization which would doubtless be 
of very great value in time of war. 

The uniform of the Naval Militia consists of a blue cap, blouse, and 
rrousers of blue trimmed with white braid. The working suit is of white 
duck with white canvas hat. 




CHAPTER III. 



HOW THE NAVY HAS GROWN. THE COST AND CHARACTER OF OUR NEW 

WHITE SHIPS OF WAR. OUR PERIOD OF NAVAL WE.\KNESS AND OUR 

ADVANCE TO A PLACE AMONG THE GREAT NAVAL POWERS. — THE NEW 

DEVICES OF NAVAL WARFARE. THE TORPEDO, THE DYNAMITE GUN, 

AND THE MODERN RIFLE. ARMOR AND ITS POSSIBILITIES. 




{T the clo.se of the civil war the United States had one of the most 

formidable navies afloat. The necessities of .the war had forced 

the Navy Department to the utmost e.xertion in increasing the 

number and power of the vessels of the fleets. This work of naval 

upbuilding and strengthening had been carried on, moreover, till Fort 

Fisher fell and hostile operations ceased. The result was that at the close 

of the war the United States had upon its hands a large number of ships-of- 

war for which it had no use. The Secretary of the Navy at once began to 

reduce the number, and secretaries succeeding him followed the same policy. 

Old vessels which had outlived their usefulness as cruisers were one by one 

taken out of commission and were not replaced. Thus the navy moved 

steadily on a downward plane. Through the seventies and into the eighties 

this retrogression continued. The lowest ebb was reached in 18S2, when 

the entire naval force numbered only thirty-one vessels in commission, all 

but four of which were built entirely of wood. They were old-fashioned 
824 



BLUE^JACKETS IN TIMES OF PEACE. 825 

ships, which had been efificient in a past day, but were totally unfit to cope 
with the modern war-ships of foreign naval powers. Both their guns and 
engines were inferior. Their sole usefulness, in short, lay in displaying 
tnc national flag upon the seas and in the harbors of the commercial world 
in times of peace. 

This condition of the navy was referred to by Secretary Chandler, in his 
report of 18S2, as follows: 

" It is not the policy of the United States to maintain a large navy, but 
its reputation, honor, and prosperity require that such naval vessels as it 
possesses shall be the best which human ingenuity can devise and modern 
artificers construct. Our present vessels are not such and cannot be made 
such. They should be gradually replaced by iron or steel cruisers, and al- 
lowed to go out of commission." 

It may be of interest to add that in iScS2 there was only one high-power 
cannon in the navy, while there were nearly nineteen hundred naval officers, 
making the proportion of fifty-nine officers for each ship, and one for every 
five seamen. 

As the result of Secretary Chandler's recommendations in his report of 
1882, three steel war-ships and an armed despatch-steamer were authorized 
by the next Congress. The building of these vessels, named the " Chicago," 
the "Boston," the "Atlanta," and the "Dolphin," may be regarded as the 
first movement toward the making of the new navy of the United States. 

While progress in naval construction has been so rapid that these ships 
are a long distance behind the war-vessels of to-day in power, they were 
then considered to be equal to any afloat in their respective classes. All are 
unarmored. The "Chicago," of forty-five hundred tons displacement and a 
speed of fourteen knots an hour, was an example of the largest and best un 
armored fighting and cruising vessel then built, and, according to Secretary 
Chandler, had no superior in speed, endurance, and armament. In the 
" Boston" and " Atlanta," each of three thousand tons displacement and a 
speed of thirteen knots an hour, speed and endurance were supposed to have 
been given their greatest development, and their fighting power was in- 
creased by placing the battery on a central superstructure on the spar-deck 
and adopting a brig rig, so that the extremities would be clear for a fore and 
aft fire. The " Dolphin," of fifteen hundred tons displacement and a speed 



826 BLUE-JACKETS IN TIMl'.S OF PEACE. 

of fifteen knots, was designed as an auxiliary in naval operations, and it was 
expected that she would furnish a model for high-speed commerce-destroyers 
to be subsequently built. These vessels were constructed at an aggregate 
cost of over $2,400,000, in the ship-yard of John Roach, of Chester, Pa. 
The " Dolphin" was launched in 1884. 

The Congress which authorized the building of the cruisers also directed 
that the doublc-turrctcd monitors, "Puritan," " Amphitrite," "Terror," and 
" Monadnock," whose keels had been laid several years before, be completed. 
In accordance with this order they were launched in 1883. 

In order that the work of the reconstruction of the navy should be car- 
ried on as rapidly as possible, the secretary recommended, in 18S3 and 1884, 
that seven unarmored cruisers, in addition to the four then in the process of 
construction, be built. Congress adopted his suggestion to the extent of 
authorizing, in 1884, the construction of two unarmored cruisers, two gun- 
boats, and two armored cruisers. 

The vessels with which the reconstruction of the navy began — namely 
the " Chicago," the "Boston," the "Atlanta," and the "Dolphin" — were 
completed about this time, and were in some measure disappointments. It 
was found that the " Dolphin" was better adapted for pleasure trips than for 
war service, because of the lack of protection against hostile fire. The en- 
gines had been so placed as to be exposed above water-line, which was con- 
demned as a serious mistake in a war-vessel without armor-protection. It 
was realized, too, that the essential characteristic in an unarmored cruiser is 
great speed. The function she is expected to perform is to destroy com- 
merce; and if she is slower than the merchant-vessels it is useless for her 
to go to sea; and if she is slower than the ironclads, and consequently can- 
not escape from them, she could not long continue her service. The chief 
objection to the vessels was the lack of a speed equal to that of merchant- 
men and the cruisers of other countries. The type of protected cruiser with 
a maximum speed, in some cases as high as twenty knots, developed at this 
time as a result of the earlier experiments. The torpedo, too, was receiving 
constant attention, and money was freely spent for its improvement. It was 
found that vessels at anchor or under slow headway could be protected from 
torpedoes by being surrounded by a large net. This defence was generally 
adopted for armored vessels. 



BLUE-JACKETS IN TIMES OF PHACH 



A stride forward in naval construction in the United States marked the 
year 1887. Before that time a serious obstacle in the way of building up 
the na\y was the lack in the country of manufactories necessary to the con- 
struction and armament of a modern war-vessel, namely, that of steel forg- 
ings for the heavier guns, of armor for ironclad vessels, and of secondary 
batteries, which are an essential portion of the armament. It was impor- 
tant that the country should not be dependent upon foreigners for these nec- 
essary implements of warfare, because they are contraband in time of war, 
and consequently could not then be obtained abroad. Secretary of the Navy 
Whitney, who succeeded Secretary Chandler, stipulated, in his adverti.se- 
ments for bids for the contracts of making the armor for the ships under 
construction, that this armor should be of domestic manufacture. Corres- 
pondence was also opened with the leading steel manufacturers of the coun- 
try, offering them inducements to take the matter up. Interest was awak- 
ened, and it was found upon investigation that armor could be made in the 
United States as advantageously as abroad. A contract was drawn up with 
'he Bethlehem Iron Company, under which a plant for the production of ar- 
mor and gun steel was erected at Bethlehem, Pa., which was designed to be 
second to none in the world. In the matter of the second batteries, the 
policy of insisting upon home manufacture was also pursued, with the de- 
s,ired result. 

Congress had authorized, in 1885, the construction of two additional 
cruisers and two gunboats. In 1886 there was further authorization of two 
armor-clad vessels, each of about six thousand tons, and each to cost, exclu- 
sive of armament, not more than $2,500,000. In 1887 the sum of $2,000,- 
000 was appropriated for harbor and coast defence vessels. As a result of 
this reawakening on the part of Congress to the necessity of a respectable 
navy, and the manifestations of enlightenment in the form of substantial ap- 
propriations, Secretary Whitney was able to state in his report of 1888 that 
upon the completion of the ships under construction, the United States 
would rank second among the nations in the possession of unarmored cruis- 
ers or commerce-destroyers possessing the highest characteristics — namely, 
size of three thousand tons and upward and a speed of nineteen knots, and 
more. The vessels, inclusive of the monitors, completed and uncompleted, 
then composing the navy, were as follows : The " Dolphin," " Boston," 



828 



BLUE-JACKETS IN TIMES OF PEACE. 



"Atlanta," "Chicago," whose keels were laid in 1883; the "Charleston," 
" Baltimore," " Newark," " Philadelphia," " San Francisco," protected cruis- 
ers, whose keels were laid in 1887 and 1888; and the gunboats "York- 
town," "Petrel," "Concord," " Jiennington," whose keels were laid in 1887 
and 1888. In addition to these, there were under construction the dyna- 
mite cruiser "Vesuvius," with a guaranteed speed of twenty knots an hour, 
and a first-class torpedo-boat with a speed of twenty-three knots an hour. 




DYNAMITE CRUISER "VESUVIUS.' 



Besides these, five protected cruisers had been authorized, but were not yet 
in process of construction. 

The " Baltimore," " Charlestown," " Yorktown," and " Petrel" were 
given their trial trips in 1889, and were accepted by the Na\'y Department 
The trip of the " Baltimore," in particular, was a brilliant success. The 
horse-power proved to be in excess of the contract requirement, and her 
highest speed for one hour was 20.39 knots--this result being then unpar- 
alleled by any war-ship in the world of the " P-altimore's" displacement. 

When Benjamin F. Tracy became Secretary of the Navy, in 1889, he 
called attention to the fact that, while the United States had secured a nam- 



BLUE-JACKETS IN TIMES OF PEACE. 829 

ber of excellent vessels of the cruiser type, it did not as yet possess an effi- 
cient navy. He pointed out that the country had two widely separated 
ocean frontiers to protect, and that there was only one way to protect them, 
namely, by two separate fleets of armored battle-ships. He said further that 
in addition to the battle-ships, the condition of the country required at least 
twenty vessels for coast and harbor defence, and, moreover, that the employ- 
ment of these ships as floating fortresses demanded that they be equipped 
with the most powerful batteries and the heaviest of armor. It may be said 
parenthetically that eight ves.sels of this type, five of which were recon- 
structcil monitors, were under construction or had been authorized at that 
time. Secretary Tracy recommended the authorization by the followin" 
Congress of eight armored battle-ships. He also said that the United 
States could not afford to neglect torpedo-boats, with which the foreign na- 
val powers were well supplied, and he recommended that appropriations be 
made for the construction of at least five of these boats of the first and sec- 
ond class. The year before, the keel of the first of the battle-ships, the 
"Texas," had been laid in the navy-yard at Norfolk, Va., and in 1889 work 
was begun at the Brookl)'n navy yard upon another vessel of the same class, 
the "Maine." These ves.sels are respectively of 6,314 and 6,6j8 tons dis- 
placement. The construction of a third battle-ship, which had been pro- 
vided for, had not yet been begun. 

Secretary Tracy's recommendations reveal clearly the naval condition in 
1889. Previous to that year the additions to the navy had consisted chiefly 
of cruisers of from three to four thousand tons, and of gunboats under two 
thousand tons; but, acting upon the secretary's report. Congress, on June 
10, 1890, authorized, in addition to another armored cruiser, three seagoing 
coast-line battle-ships. These were an entirely new class of vessels in the 
United States navy, and their authorization marks another distinct step in 
its reconstruction. 

An appropriation was made in 1891 for an additional armored cruiser, 
designed to be a sister shij) to the one ])rovided for in 1S90. It was the 
purpose to make these ves:;els more powerful than any of their ty[ie in the 
navy. Their tonnage was fixed at 7,500, and their maximum sjjeed at 
twenty-two knots. They were to be given coal capacity that would enable 
them to cruise for great distances without recoaling. This, it will be seen, 



830 BLUE-JACKETS IN TIMES OF PEACE. 

is an important advantage to a navy so destitute of coaling-stations abroad 
as tliat of the United States. 

The vessels under construction in 1891 were the monitors " Puritan," 
" Amphitrite," " Monadnock," and "Terror," which had been begun in 1874, 
but had been neglected in subsequent years; the "Maine," the " Te.xas," 
the coast-defence vessel "Monterey," which was launched in 1891; the 
"New York," "Cincinnati," "Raleigh," "Detroit," and a practice-ship, 
which had been authorized by the act of 1887; the harbor-defence ram 
"Katahdin;" and gimboats " 5" and "6," authorized in 1889; the three bat- 
tle-ships, " Indiana," " Massachusetts," and " Oregon," and the protected 
cruiser "No. 12," authorized by the act of 1890; and protected cruiser 
" No. 13," provided for in 1891. 

Three vessels, the "Newark," the "Concord," and the " Bennington," 
were given their trial trips in 1890. The behavior of the " Newark" proved 
her to be a valuable addition to the list of cruisers. The " Concord" and 
the " Bennington," vessels of the gunboat class, similar to the " Yorktown," 
'.Iso gave evidences of power and usefulness. They carry a comparatively 
heavy battery, while their light draught enables them to run into shallow 
rivers and bays, and thus perform services for which larger vessels are inca- 
pacitated. 

The subject of the organization of a naval militia or reserve had been 
discussed for some time before Secretary Tracy assumed his office. He 
forcibly urged the necessity of such an organization in his first and in fol- 
lowmg annual reports, until, in 1891, Congress appropriated $25,000 for 
arms for the militia. This was a decided impetus toward its development, 
and at the close of the year it existed in six States, an effective, well drilled, 
and organized force of eleven hundred men. 

The year 1892 saw considerable progress in the development of the navy. 
Two important vessels, the " Iowa," a first-class, seagoing battle-ship of 
1 1,296 tons displacement, and the " Brooklyn," an armored cruiser of 9,150 
tons displacement, were provided for by Congress. The cruisers "Texas," 
" Columbia," " Olympia," " Raleigh," and " Cincinnati," and the gunboats 
" Machias" and " Castine" were launched. 

Secretary Tracy's administration of the affairs of the navy, whicli closed 
in 1892, was one of marked progress and development; and this develop- 



BLUE-JACKETS IN TIMES OF PEACE. 831 



merit was not confined to ships alone. E.xperiments extending over a period 
of three years had resulted in the adopting of an armor of new composition, 
namely, nickel-steel, which had been found to be far superior to any before 
known. The manufacture of torpedoes had been domesticated. Since 1889 
the heavy, rapid-firing guns had been developed and proved successful. The 
manufacture of armor-piercing .shells, of which two firms in Europe had had 
the monopoly, was begun in this period under the care and encouragement 
of the Navy Department ; and the shells turned out soon surpassed the for- 
eign product. Through investigation and experiment conducted by its own 
agencies, the Navy Department succeeded in developing a smokeless pow- 
der, which gave better results than that made abroad. Careful and pro- 
tracted experiments with high explosives were also carried on, with the re- 
sult of developing an explosive that can be safely used in shells fired from 
high-power guns. 

In 1893, the first year of the administration of Secretary Herbert, the 
following vessels were launched: the armored battle-ships "Indiana" and 
" Massachusetts ;" the protected cruiser " Minneapolis ;" the unarmored 
and very rapid cruiser " Marblehead ;" and the armed coast-defence ram 
"Katahdin." During the same year Congress authorized the construction 
of three new vessels, to be of the class known as light-draft protected gun- 
boats. These are of about twelve hundred tons displacement, and are de- 
signed for river service in China and elsewhere. Several vessels, namely, 
the " Monterey," " Bancroft," " Detroit," " New York," armored cruiser of 
8,480 tons displacement, and the gunboat " Machias," were given their trial 
trips in 1893. The results were in each case satisfactory, and the vessels 
were added to the effective fleet of the navy. 

Before 1893 the United States had been behind the other important na- 
tions in the matter of small-arms equipment. The navy was still using the 
old-fashioned, large-calibre rifle, employing a charge of black powder, and 
effectively carrying only twelve hundred yards. Under Secretary Herbert's 
direction, a board of naval officers investigated the improved small arms in 
use in foreign navies, and made recommendations which resulted in the adop 
tion of a small-calibre magazine rifle, in which is used smokeless powder, and 
which has an effective range of a mile and a half. A further advantage of 
the new rifle is that it employs cartridges of such a weight that no less than 



832 BLUR-JACKETS IN TIMF.S OF PEACE. 

two hundred rounds can be carried by one man. The cartridges used in the 
old rifle were so heavy that one man could not carry more than fifty rounds. 

Secretary Herbert recommended in his report of 1893 that Congress au- 
thorize the construction of at least one new battle-ship and si.x torpedo- 
boats. He said that for the defence of ports the latter are more effective 
according to cost than any class of vessels. The knowledge of their e.xist- 
ence alone will make an enemy chary about approaching within bombarding 
distance. The value of this boat is recognized by all naval powers, and they 
are being built abroad in great numbers. The next naval appropriation con- 
tained a provision authorizing the construction of three additional torpedo- 
boats of the general type of the " Ericsson," which was then ready for trial. 
The design for the new boat called for a speed of not less than twenty-four 
and one-half knots an hour. The battle-ships "Indiana," "Texas," and 
"Oregon" underwent preliminary trial trips in 1894, and were accepted by 
the government in 1895. It is of interest to note that until these vessels 
were put in commission, the navy was still in the condition that existed 
when President Cleveland, in his first message to Congress in 1885, made 
the following statement : " We have not a single vessel that could keep the 
seas against a first-class vessel of any important power." It is true that 
vessels of size and power enough to hold tlieir own against the battle-ships 
of other nations had been under construction for several years, but the Uni- 
ted States was still without an available man-of-war of the first class until 
the " Indiana" and the " Oregon" joined the fleet. 

Considerable progress in naval affairs marked the year 1895. One of 
the important events was the adding to the commissioned fleet of the coast- 
defence monitor " Amphitritc," whose keel was laid in 1874. The work of 
remodelling her was begun in 1889, under the appropriation made by Con- 
gress in 18S7. The "Amphitrite" is in some respects an old-fashioned 
type of vessel, but is nevertheless capable of important service. Her dis- 
placement is 3,990 tons. Her armor and armament are heavy, although not 
so powerful as that of the battle-ships. Her main advantage, as with all 
of the monitors, is that she presents a comparatively small target for the 
enemy's fire. 

Adopting the spirit of Secretary Herbert's recommendations in his re- 
port of 1894, Congress, in 1895, authorized the construction of two coast* 



BLUE-JACKETS IN TIMES OF PEACE. 833 



line battle-ships of most formidable equipment and power, their cost not to 
exceed S4, 000,000 each. I-'urthcr provision was made for the buildiny (jf 
twelve torpedo-boats. An interesting feature of the bill was the stipulation 
that one of the battle-ships shall bear the historic name " Kearsarge," afte! 
the famous old man-of-war tiiat was wrecked in 1894 on Roncador Reef. 
According to the plans of the new ships, they resemble in a general way the 
" Indiana," although they are longer and broader and have a greater displace- 
ment, and their batteries are more powerful. A new feature in the arrange- 
ment of the guns was decided upon. The vessels will carry two turrets of 
two stories each. Many objections to this plan were advanced, Init it was 
said that all are outweighed by the opportunity which the turrets give of 
concentrating an enormous quantity of shot on a given point. An estimate 
has been made that the " Kearsarge" will carry enough ammunition to kill 
or disable a million persons, and that she will be able to discharge it all 
within a period of five hours. Accommodations will be provided for five 
hundred and twenty officers and men. The " Kearsarge" and her sister ship, 
which will be called the " Kentucky," will carry heavier armor and guns and 
a greater quantit}- of the latter than any foreign battle-ship in existence or in 
course of construction. 

The ram " Katahdin" was rejected by the government in 1895, because, 
upon her official trials, she did not fulfil the speed requirements. She made 
i6.oii knots, while the contract called for 17 knots. Congress was asked 
to purchase the vessel, and finally did so. 

The armored cruiser " Brooklyn," designed to be one of the fastest and 
most powerful vessels of her class afloat, was launched from Cramp's ship- 
yard in Philadelphia in 1895. She is the sister ship to the "New York," 
which was put in commission in 1893. A matter of significance, as show- 
ing the rapid progress in the art of na\al construction within a few years. 
was the taking out of commission in 1895 of the "Chicago," to be refitted 
with engines and boilers that will give her powers approaching those of the 
newer vessels. Two years will be rec|uired for this work, and when slie is 
complete she will travel three knots an hour faster tJian heretofore, and in 
many respects will be substantially a new .ship. 

The official trial trip of the battle-ship "Massachusetts," which occurred 
in 1896, was a source of gratification to the Navy Department and to all 



854 ]iLUK-JACKETS IN TIMES OF PEACE. 

others who arc anxious to see the United States take respectable raniv among 
the naval powers. The primary business of a battle-ship is to fight; hence 
her guns and not her speed are of the first importance. Naval experts have 
agreed that the " Massachusctt.. ' ;ind her sister ships, the " Indiana" and the 
" Oregon," have larger and more effective batteries than any man-of-war 
afloat or in progress of construction. The " Massachusetts" has now proved, 
by steaming at the rate of 16.15 knots for four hours, with a maximum speed 
of 17.03 knots, that she is superior to all other battle-ships in speed as well 
as in armament. Her perforraancc is unparalleled in naval history, and 
makes her the foremost war-vessel of the world. The " Indiana" is a trifle 
slower. She steamed 15.61 knots for four hours, but under the di.sadvant- 
age of a bottom that had never been cleaned. She would probably go half 
a knot faster with a clean bottom. As a representative specimen of the bat- 
tle-ships which belong to the navy, a few details of the " Massachusetts' " 
armament may be of int'erest. She has thirty guns in all. The chief of 
these are four of thirteen-inch calibre, which are the largest in use in mod- 
ern navies ; a pair of them can be fired every three minutes. The eight- 
inch guns are next in size. There are four of them, and they can be 
fired every minute. In addition to these, there are two six-inch rifles, 
twenty six-pounders, and four one-pounders. The six-inch guns can be fired 
twice a minute, and the six-pounders twenty times in the same period. In 
a fight lasting thirty minutes, these guns would throw forty-one and a half 
tons of metal, of which forty-four thousand pounds would be the share of 
the thirteen-inch guns, thirty thousand ])()unds the share of the eight-inch, 
six thousand pounds of the six-inch, and t]iirt)-six hundred jiounds of the 
others. The total weight of the " Massachusetts' " broadside is 5,724 
pounds, and of her head or astern fire 3,434 pounds. 

Another of the monitors, the " Monadnock," was added to the navy in 
1896. She was launched in 1883, and was then practically left alone until 
the acts of 1885, 1886, and 1887 provided for her completion. She is now 
a formidable vessel, with heavy guns which can be made to bear on a point 
a small boat's length from the ship's side, or can bombard at a distance ot 
six miles. 

While the successive Secretaries of the Navy, during the last fourteen 
years, have been chiefly active in increasing the number of ships-of-war. 



BLUE-JACKETS IN TIMES OF PEACE. 835 

they have not altogether neglected defences on the coast. Some of the 
larger sea-coast cities have succeeded in obtaining a part of the heavy gun 
and mortar batteries that would be necessary in repelling attacks without 
the aid of battle-ships. The cities of New York and San Francisco have 
now mounted and ready for action powerful pneumatic dynamite gun batter- 
ies, the most destructive engines of war in existence. Each of these guns 
is capable of hurling a projectile carrying five hundred pounds of the most 
powerful explosive known to man, and is able to destroy the strongest iron- 
clad. In the naval battle of Sinope in the Crimean War, a shell designed to 
explode on striking the object was used for the first time. When the high 
explosives, such as dynamite and gun-cotton, appeared, the idea suggested 
itself that they might be used in the shells with vastly greater effect than 
gunpowder, which had been employed. The objection, however, was that 
these explosives are so sensitive that there was great danger of their ex- 
ploding at the outset of the journey from the sudden shock of being hurled 
from the ordinary high-power guns and mortars. Captain Zalinski, of the 
United States Artillery, suggested a method of gun construction by which 
the shells could be projected by a steady pressure of compressed air instead 
of by the sudden force of powder gases. This system has been steadily im- 
proved until the pneumatic dynamite gun now works perfectly and is a 
marvel of destructiveness. The United States possesses six and Great Bri- 
tain one of the seven dynamite guns that have thus far been manufactured 
for coast defence. 

The " Iowa," a battle-ship of the first class, whose keel was laid in 1893, 
was launched in March, 1S95. She is the largest vessel of the navy now 
afloat, her displacement being 11,410 tons, which is over a thousand tons 
greater than that of the " Massachusetts," " Indiana," or " Oregon." 

It will be seen that progress toward the building of the new navy of the 
United States has been steady since the first move was made in 1882. As 
a result of this development, the navy now consists, counting the vessels 
built and authorized by Congress, prior to 1896, the naval appropriations 
bill for that year still pending at this writing, of about seventy modern ships- 
of-war. These include eight battle-ships, six coast-defence steelclad.s, two 
armored cruisers, one armored ram, thirteen protected cruisers, eighteen gun- 
boats and unprotected cruisers, and about two dozen torpedo-boats. This 



836 BLUE-JACKETS IN TIMES OF PEACE. 

fleet gives the United States sixth place in the list of naval powers, being 
outranked in number of vessels by England, France, Russia, Germany, or 
Italy, in the order named. A true idea of the comparative fighting strength 
of the United States navy is not conveyed, however, by its rank in the nu- 
merical strength of the fleet. "Wxq personnel oi the navy and the power of 
the individual ships must be considered. It is generally conceded that the 
United States has the finest fighting men and vessels in the world. These 
advantages would, in all probability, enable us to whip Germany or Italy in 
a series of naval contests ; therefore, it is thought by naval critics that we 
really hold fourth position among the na\'al powers. England is still a long 
way ahead of us, the English navy now numbering nearly five hundred 
vessels, of which one hundred and twenty are armored cruisers. But, com- 
paring the navies ship to ship, the United States fleet, so far as it goes, is 
su]")erior even to that of Great Britain. The battle-ships, while somewhat 
smaller, are more effective fighters. The English navy has no armored 
cruisers as fast or as powerful as the "New York" and "Brooklyn;" and 
the commerce-destroyers, "Columbia" and "Minneapolis," are the fastest 
vessels, either of war or peace, that have gone to sea. 

That this new navy of ours will ever have to meet so stern an ordeal as 
that through which the sailors of '6t went is wholly improbable. In multi- 
plying the number and the effectiveness of fighting machines the nations of 
the world have seemingly lessened the likelihood of war. International 
disputes which once would have put the territory of all lunope ablaze are 
now settled by the peaceful de\ices of dij^lomacy. But behind the diplomat 
must be the gun, and it will be a sorry day for the United States when, if 
ever, the sense of security bred of an avowed national policy of non-intcr 
vcntion in foreign affairs shall lead this people to neglect the naval arm oi 
the republic. 



PART V. 
THE NAVAL WAR WITH SPAIN., 



837 




CHAPTER I. 

THE STATE OF CUBA. PERTINACITY OF THE REVOLUTIONISTS. SPAIN'S SAC- 
RIFICES AND FAILURE. SPANISH BARBARITIES. THE POLICY OF RECON- 

CENTRATION. AMERICAN SYMPATHY AROUSED. — THE STRUGGLE IN 

CONGRESS. THE ASSASSINATION OF THE "MAINE." REPORT OF THE COM- 

MISyON. THE ONWARD MARCH TO BATTLE. 




SHORT time after the inauguration of William McKinley as 
President of the United States in March, 1897, it became 
apparent that the disordered condition of Cuba under Spanish 
rule was destined inevitably to become an issue which the United 
States must help to settle. For two years a great part of the island had been 
in open and determined revolt against Spanish rule. Though the forces of 
the King had been able to hold the .seaports, thus cutting off the insur- 
gents from regular communication with the outer world and making impo- 
tent their efforts to secure recognition from foreign powers, the patriots 
under Maceo and Gomez held control of the interior, established a govern- 
ment of their own, enforced order, and levied taxes. Enormous sacrifices 
were made by the Spanish people to re-establish sovereignty in the 
island. More than 300,000 troops were sent thither to be cruelly cut 
down by plague and pestilence. A nation, long on the verge of bank- 
ruptcy, incurred uncomplainingly prodigious additional indebtedness to 
save for its boy king— Alphonso XHI. was at this time but twelve years 

839 



840 THE NAVAL WAR WITH SPAIN. 

old — its most precious possession in the west, the Pearl of the Antilles. 
Queen Isabella of Spain pawned her jewels that Columbus might have the 
means to press his voyage of discovery into unkaovvn seas, but in the clos- 
ing years of this century the people of Spain pawned their national assets, 
put even themselves and their posterity in pawn to hold for Spain the last 
relics of the empire which Columbus won for her. 

Though we were forced to draw the sword upon Spain in the cause of 
humanity and human liberty, the man of reason, and of a sense of justice, 
will not withhold from the people of that sorely chastened nation admira- 
tion for their loyalty and the sacrifices they made in their national cause. 

But the Spanish people were cruelly betrayed by their own rulers. The 
generals whom they sent to Cuba gave less thought to the suppression 
of the insurrection than to filling their own pockets. Out of the millions 
and millions of pesetas set aside by an already impoverished people for the 
needs of war, a great part was stolen by geneials and by army contractors. 
The young conscripts, sent from Spain to a land where the air is pesti- 
lential to the unacclimated, were clothed and shod in shoddy; their food 
invited disease, and when they fell ill it was found that the greed of the 
generals had consumed the funds that should have provided sufficient hos- 
pital service. Comparatively few fell before the bullets or machetes of the 
insurgents — for, as we shall see, the revolutionists adopted the tactics of 
Fabius — but by thousands they succumbed to fevers of every kind. 
Death without glory was the hapless lot of the Spanish conscript. 

The Patriot generals, Maximo Gomez and Antonio Maceo, met this 
situation with consummate skill. The military problem which confronted 
them was one which chiefly demanded self-restraint. They were lamenta- 
bly destitute of arms and munitions of war. Cartridges were a dearly 
prized acquisition, and it is worth noting, as an indication of the venality 
which corrupted the Spanish army, that a considerable share of the insur- 
gent ammunition was obtained by direct traffic with the Spanish soldiers. 
But in the main the Patriots were armed with heterogeneous firearms and 
the machete — a heavy, sword-like knife, used, in peace, for cutting cane. 
The latter at close quarters was a formidable weapon, and the insurgents 
became singularly proficient in its use; developing a style of machete play 
almost as exact and scientific as the school of the rapier in ancient France. 
This disparity in weapons, however, made it imperative that the insur- 



THE NAVAL WAR WITH SPAIN. 841 

gents should avoid pitched battles with tlie invaders, wlio were armed 
with Mauser rifles, that do deadly .work at two miles' distance. Accord- 
ingly, Gomez and Maceo confined themselves to harrying the Spanish 
army of occupation on every side and destroying all vestiges of Spanish 
authority outside the large towns. Warfare of this sort inevitably devel- 
ops into the most cruel, the most barbarous of conflicts. So it was in this 
case. That Cuba might be made desolate, unable to pay anything toward 
the price of its own subjection, the insurgents relentlessly destroyed stand- 
ing crops, burned great fields of standing sugar cane, destroyed mills, 
dynamited railroads, tore up roads, and demolished aqueducts. That the 
peaceful inhabitants — the pacificos — might not give aid or comfort to the 
revolutionists. General Weyler caused them to be driven from their farms 
and herded in the towns still under Spanish rule. There they stayed, in 
squalid huts or under thatched sheds, AND STARVED. Systematically, 
with devilish ingenuity, Spain planned to crush Cuba, not by fighting the 
revolutionists, but by starving women and children, old men and peaceful 
farm hands. It is estimated, and conservatively, that more than 500,000 
people had been starved to death before the United States interfered. 

Indeed, it was upon the hapless pacificos that the horrors of war chiefly 
descended. They were ruined, but that was the least. Their property, 
the honor of their women, and their lives were held to be the legitimate 
spoil of any Spanish soldier, and the tacit legalization of loot, rapine, and 
murder was taken full advantage of. More inhuman even than the regular 
soldiery were the guerrillas, licensed free companions, who roamed the 
island ever in search of spoil. The deeds of these wretches beggar de- 
scription, and so foul was the repute of their corps that prisoners from their 
number taken by the Cubans were instantly put to death. It is just to say 
here that the testimony of Americans who served with Gomez and Maceo 
proves that those leaders enforced humane and orderly conduct upon their 
followers. The death penalty was more than once imposed upon useful 
and brave soldiers, who had been guilty of outrage. Nothing could more 
vividly indicate the moral difference between the Cuban and the Spaniard 
than the contrast between their methods of prosecuting the war. Though 
outlawed, the Revolutionists observed with scrupulous exactness the rules 
of civilized warfare, while the Spaniards murdered helpless prisoners, even 
killing the wounded in their beds, had recourse to torture and to nameless 



842 THE NAVAL WAR WITH SPAIN. 

mutilation, in order to wreak their hatred, and let loose a swarm of bandits 
and ruffians to prey upon the defenseless people of the island. 

Out of warfare such as this, waged on an island only a few hours' sail 
from our coast, and in which were heavy American interests, it was inevi- 
table that invasion of American rights should proceed, and the wrath of the 
American people be awakened. Our citizens owned large plantations in 
Cuba, which were destroyed either by the Spaniards or the insurgents. 
Many Americans living in the island or visiting there, were arrested by the 
Spanish authorities, and one, at least, Dr. Ruiz, was murdered in Morro Castle, 
while another, a newspaper correspondent, was cut to pieces by guerrillas. 
For Spanish outrages upon the lives or property of American citizens, claims 
aggregating $60,000,000 were on file with the United States Department 
of State before the declaration of war. The general sympathy of the 
American people with the insurgents, as well as the hope of profit, led to 
repeated efforts by our citizens to smuggle arms and munitions of war 
to the Cubans, and in time it became necessary to employ a great part of 
the United States navy in police duty on the high seas for the purpose 
of stopping the filibusters. This service in behalf of Spain was exceed- 
ingly repugnant to the American mind, and contributed greatly to the 
growing feeling of irritation toward Spain. 

History in coming ages, however, will relate, to the unending honor and 
glory of the American people, tliat humanitarian considerations, rather than 
regard for imperiled interests, brought the United States into a war which 
most emphatically their people did not desire. The great New York news- 
papers, day by day, printed circumstantial accounts of the frightful suffer- 
ings in Cuba. One journal secured a great number of photographs of 
scenes amid tlic starving reconcentrados, which, greatly enlarged, were 
publicly exhibited in all parts of the Union. These pictures, showing the 
frightful distortions of the human body as the result of long starvation, 
showing little children, mere skeletons, looking mutely down on the dead 
bodies of their parents, brought home to the mind of the people the state 
of life in a neighboring land as no writing, however brilliant, could. A cry 
went up from every part of the United States that a Christian duty was 
imposed upon our nation to interfere for the alleviation of such horrible 
suffering. Charity came to the rescue with free contributions of provisions, 
and Congress made a heavy appropriation of money for the relief of the 



THE NAVAL WAR WITH SPAIN. 843 

Cubans. But everywhere the opinion grew tliat philanthropy alone could 
not right this great wrong, but that the strong hand of the United States 
must reach forth to pluck out the Spaniard from the land he ravaged. 
And when a number of Senators and Representatives in Congress made 
journeys to Cuba, and returning, described in formal addresses at the Capi- 
tol the scenes of starvation and misery, this opinion hardened into positive 
conviction. 

Then, almost as if planned by some all-knowing power, came a great 
and inexplicable disaster, which made American intervention inevitable and 
immediate. 

During the latter years of the Cleveland administration the representa- 
tives of American interests in Cuba urged that a United States ship-of-war 
should be permanently stationed in Havana harbor. The request was rea- 
sonable, the act in thorough accord with the custom of nations. But, fear- 
ing to offend Spain, President Cleveland avoided taking the step and 
President McKinley for months imitated him. In time this act, which in 
itself could have had no hostile significance, came to be regarded as an ex- 
pression of hostility to Spain, and all the resources of Spanish diplomacy 
were exerted to prevent any American warship from entering Havana har- 
bor. Ultimately, however, the pressure of public opinion compelled the 
Executive to provide for representation of American authority in the dis- 
ordered island, and the battleship " Maine " — a sister ship to the " Iowa," 
a picture of which appears elsewhere in this volume — was sent to Havana. 

The night of February 15 the "Maine" lay quietly at her anchorage 
in the Havana harbor. Her great white hull, with lights shining brilliantly 
from the ports aft where the ofificers' quarters were, gleamed in the starlight. 
On the berth deck the men swung sleeping in their hammocks. The watch 
on deck breathed gratefully the cool evening air after the long tropic day. 
Captain Sigsbee was at work in his cabin, and the ofificers in the wardroom 
were chatting over their games or dozing over their books. The lights of 
the town and of the ancient fortress of Morro shone brightly through the 
purpling light. Not far away the Spanish man-of-war "Alfonso XIII." 
lay at her moorings, and an American merchantman, brightly lighted, was 
near. The scene was peaceful, quiet, beautiful. True, in the minds of 
many ofificers and men on the American warship there was a lurking and 
indefinable sense of danger. Their coming had been taken by the Span- 



844 THE NAVAL WAR WTIH SPAIN. 

iards in Havana as a hostile act. Thougii all tlie pcifunctoiy requirements 
of international courtesy had been complied with, salutes interchanged, 
visits of ceremony paid and returned, there was yet in the Spanish greeting 
an ill-concealed tone of anger. In the cafds Spanish ofificers cursed the 
Yankees and boasted of their purpose to destroy them. On the streets 
American blue-jackets, on shore leave, were jostled, jeered, and insulted. 
Yet the ill-temper of the Spaniards, though apparent, was so ill defined 
that no apprehension of a positive attack was felt. As is the practice on 
men-of-war, however, the utmost vigilance was maintained. Only the em- 
ployment of a boat patrol and the use of torpedo nettings were lacking to 
give the " Maine " the aspect of a ship in an enemy's harbor. 

Then came the disaster that shocked the world. A disaster in which it 
is impossible not to suspect the element of treachery. A disaster which if 
purely accidental, occurring to a hated ship in a port surrounded by men 
who were enemies at heart, was the most extraordinary coincidence in his- 
tory. The story is brief. Not until this war is ended and the authority of 
the United States is employed to clear up the mystery, can the real narra- 
tive of the destruction of the " Maine " be told. 

This much we know : At about half-past nine those on the "Maine" 
who lived to tell the tale heard a sudden dull explosion, with a slight 
shock, then a prolonged, deep, furious roar, which shook the ship to its very 
vitals. The people on the other ships in the harbor saw the whole forward 
portion of the " Maine" suddenly become a flaming volcano belching forth 
fire, men, huge pieces of steel, and bursting shells. Portions of the ship's 
hull rained down on decks a thousand yards away. When the first fierce 
shock of the explosion was past, it was seen that the " Maine" was on fire 
and was rapidly sinking. 

How wonderful is the power of discipline upon the human mind! On 
the great battle-ship, with hundreds of its men blown to pieces or penned 
down by steel diibris to be drowned in the rapidly rising waters, there was 
no panic. Captain Sigsbee, rushing from his cabin door, is met by the ser- 
geant of marines who serves him as orderly. Not a detail of naval etiquette 
is lacking. Sergeant William ^Anthony salutes: 

" I have to report, sir, that the ship is blown up and is sinking," he 
says, as he would report a pilot boat in the offing. 

The captain reaches the deck to find his officers already at work, the 



THE NAVAL WAR WITH SPAIN. 845 

men who have not been injured all at their stations. Boats are lowered 
arid ply about the harbor to rescue survivors. Tiiough the flames rage 
fiercely, and the part of the ship which they have not yet reached is full of 
liigh explosives, there is no panic. At the first alarm every man has done 
what years of drill and teaching have taught him to do. The after-maga- 
zines have been flooded, the boats' crews called away. Even preparations 
for a fight had been attempted. Lieutenant Jenkins, hearing the first 
explosion, sprang so quickly for his station at a forward gun that he was 
caught in the second explosion and slain. Though a bolt from heaven or a 
shock from hell had struck the " Maine," it brought death only — not fear 
nor panic. 

The work of rescuing survivors and caring for the wounded was pushed 
apace, for the ship sunk rapidly, until only her after-superstructure was 
above the water. Boats from the Spanish man-of-war joined in the work of 
mercy and her officers, as though conscious that the suspicion of treachery 
was first in every man's mind, exerted themselves in eveiy way to show 
solicitude for the wounded and sorrow for the disaster. When all was done 
that could be done, and the roll of the ship's company was called, it was 
found that 266 brave Americans were lost in Havana harbor — a friendly 
port. Some lie there yet, penned down beneath the gnarled and scorched 
steel which formed the gallant " Maine " ; others lie in lonely graves on 
the adjacent shore, where, before this war is ended, the American fl.ig 
shall be raised above them to be their avenger and their monument. 

It will be necessary to outline in only the most terse and condensed 
form the political and military events which succeeded the destiuction of 
the " Maine " and led up to the declaration of war. The news of the great 
disaster was received at home with horror, speedily turning to anger. The 
Government, rightly desiring to proceed calmly and in accordance with 
regularly ascertained facts, strove to calm the public temper, but with little 
success. It gave out as Captain Sigsbec's first rej^ort of the disaster a 
cable message, which contained no charge of treachery, advised caution, 
and urged a suspension of judgment. But presently it became rumored 
about Washington that this dis|)atch was, in fact, sent under orders ; that 
the captain's first report formally charged the Spaniards with blowing up 
the ship. In the newspapers the discussion raged and theories of the dis- 



846 THE NAVAL WAR WITH SPAIN. 

aster were plentiful, but, after long weeks of careful study of the evidence, 
the Naval Board of Inquiry presented the following report: 

When tlie " Maine " arrived at Havana, she was conducted Ijy the regular Government 
pilot to buoy No. 4, to which she was moored in from five to six fathoms of water. 

The state of discipline on board, and tiie condition of lier magazines, boilers, coal-bunk- 
ers, and storage compartments, are passed in review, with tlie conclusion that excellent 
order prevailed, and that no indication of any cause for an internal explosion existed in 
any quarter. 

At eight o'clock on the evening of February 15 everything had been reported secure, and 
all was quiet. At 9.40 o'clock the vessel was suddenly destroyed. 

There were two distinct explosions, with a brief interval between them. The first lifted 
the forward part of the ship veiy perceptibly ; the second, which was more open, prolonged, 
and of greater volume, is attributed by the Court to the partial explosion of two or more of 
the forward magazines. 

The evidence of the divers establishes that the after-part of the ship was practically 
intact, and sank in that condition a very few minutes after the explosion. The forward 
part was completely demolished. 

Upon the evidence of a concurrent external cause the finding of the Court is as follows : 

At frame 17 the outer shell of the ship, from a point eleven and one-half feet from the 
middle line of the ship and six feet above the keel when in its natural position, has been 
forced up so as to be now about four feet above the surface of the water; therefore, about 
thirty-four feet above where it would be had the ship sunk uninjured. 

The outside bottom plating is bent into a reversed V-shape, the after-wing of which, 
about fifteen feet broad and thirty-two feet in length (from frame 17 to frame 25), is 
doubled back upon itself against the continuation of the same plating extending forward. 

At frame 18 the vertical keel is broken in two and the flat keel bent into an angle simi- 
lar to the angle formed by the outside bottom plates. This break is now about six feet below 
the surface of the water and about thirty feet above its normal position. 

In the opinion of the Court, this effect could have been produced only by the explosion 
of a mine situated under the bottom of the ship, at about frame iS, and somewhat on the 
port side of the ship. 

The conclusions of the Court are: 

That t-he loss of the " Maine " was not in any respect due to fault or negligence on the 
part of any of the officers or members of her crew. 

That the ship was destroyed by the explosion of a submarine mine, which caused the 
partial explosion of two or more of her forward magazines; and. 

That no evidence has been obtainable fixing the responsibility for the destruction of the 
" Maine" upon any person or persons. 

To-day, in the midst of war with Spain, we liave no more definite, no 
more authoritative knowledge of the cause of this disaster than this. 



THE NAVAL WAR WITH SPAIN. 



84/ 



Spain, indeed, through her official commission, decided that the explosion 
was wholly internal, but the American people is not convinced. Battle- 
ships are not in the habit of blowing themselves up, and it is the expecta- 
tion that the establisliment of American authority in Cuba will be followed 
by the unraveling of tliis murderous plot. Undoubtedly an anecdote told 




PARTIAL VIEW OF TUK WRECK ul' THE "MAINE." 



of Captain Robley D. Evans (Plighting Bob) of the navy expresses the 
popular conviction : 

" The admiral in command of the United States fleet at Key West 
should have sailed for Havana on getting news of the ' Maine's ' destruc- 
tion," said Evans, f' He should have reduced the forts, seized the city, 
discovered the assassins, and hanged them." 

"But that would have been defiance of the orders of the Navy Depart- 
ment," responded his auditor, aghast. 



THE NAVAL WAR WITH SPAIN. 



" Perhaps so," admitted Evans, " but the man who did it would have 
been the next President of the United States." 

Wliile the " Maine" Court of Inquiry was in session measures lookinj^ 
toward war were rapidly taken. March 9, a bill, which had passed both 
houses of Congress without a dissenting voice, became a law, appropriating 
$50,000,000 to be expended for the national defense. Out of this sum the 
Navy Department bought two Brazilian cruisers building in England, 
which were rechristened the " New Orleans " and " Albany." A flotilla of 
yachts, sea-going tugs, and merchantmen was bought and refitted. The 
great American liners " St. Paul," " City of Paris," " City of New York," 
and "St. Louis" were ciiartered and made into auxiliary cruisers. AH 
Europe was ransacked for purchisable warships and torpedo boats, with 
the result of proving that no nation, however rich, can equip itself with a 
navy in an emergency. Not one battle-ship was available for purchase, and 
only four cruisers, of doubtful quality. And while this work of preparation 
was going hurriedly on the country was drifting into war with what seemed 
at the time inexplicable slowness, but to the calmer backward glance of 
history will appear dangerously swift in the face of our great lack of 
preparation. What might be termed the milestones on the march to 
battle were these : 

April §. — Consul General Fitz Hugh Lee recalled from Havana. 

April II. — Message of the President on Cuba, recommending that we 
have' power to intervene forcibly without " recognizing at this time the 
independence of the present insurgent government." 

April ij. — The House passed a resolution directing the President to 
intervene in Cuba at once, and authorizing him to use the land and naval 
forces of the United States to stop the war. 

April 16. — The Senate passed a joint resolution, as a substitute for the 
House resolution, declaring the island to be free, recognizing the republic, 
demanding relinquishment of authority in Cuba by Spain, and withdrawal of 
Spanish forces; directing the President to call out the militia in addition 
to regular land and naval forces, and, finally, disclaiming any intention to 
annex the island. 

April ig. — Senate resolution adopted by the House, with the proviso 
recognizing the republic of Cuba stricken out. Both houses agreed to the 
report in this form. 




REAR-ADMIRAI, (iEORGE DHWHY 




AbMlKAl, Will JAM THOMAS SAMl'SON. 




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THE NAVAL WAR WITH SPAIN. 849 

April 20. — Ultimatum to Spain, cabled at 11 A. M. — a formal demand 
that Spain at once relinquish its authority and government in the island of 
Cuba, and withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters. 

President signed Cuban joint resolutions at 11.24. 

Sefior Polo y Bernabd, the Spanish Minister, was notified. He at once 
requested his passports. 

April 21. — General Woodford, the American Minister at Madrid, left 
Spain. 

The President directed the Secretary of the Navy to order the vessels 
of the North Atlantic squadron to proceed without delay to Cuban waters 
to blockade Havana and other ports of the island. 

April 2j. — President McKinley signed the proclamation calling for 
125,000 volunteers. 

April 2j. — Formal declaration of war recommended by the President, 
and a bill " declaring that war exists between the United States of 
America and the Kingdom of Spain," passed by both houses. 

And so the United States embarked on its first war with any European 
Power, save England — a war forced upon us by every consideration of 
humanity — a war which shall be of great advantage or of great harm to our 
Republic, according as its fruits are wisely or wrongly administered. 





CHAPTER II. 



THE OPENING DAYS OF THE WAR. — THE FIRST lil.OW STRUCK IN THE PACIFIC. 

— DEWEY AND HIS FLEET. — -IHE BATILE AT MANILA. AN EVE WITNESS 

STORY. — DELAY AND DOUliT IN THE EAST. — DULL TIMES FOR THE «LUE 

JACKETS. THE DISCOVERY OF CERVERA. HOBSON's EXPLOIT. ''HF 

OUTLOOK. 




LTRANGELY enou<;li the first warlike stroke at Spain was not 

delivered in or about Cuba, where llie quarrel arose, but in the 

otiier hemisphere, in t!ie far-awa_\' waters of the Asiatie I'.icitic, 

where the American flag is almost a stranger and the power and 

wealth of the great American Republic are unknown. In the Philippine 

Islands Spain retains one of the colonies with which she once encircled tlie 

globe. More than 7,000,000 people — a peace-loving, kindly, intelligent race 

— are there ruled by the Spaniards, and as the rule was of the characteristic 

Spanish kind, with all the accompaniments of slaughter, dishonor, and 

extortion, the natives — as in Cuba — were in a chronic state of rebellion. 

One uprising, which had assumed very considerable proportions, was 

reported by the Spaniards as suppressed just before our declaration of war. 

That event, however, aroused the revolutionists again and, as we shall see, 

they were of the greatest service to us as allies. 

When war was declared an American squadron of six warships lay 

at Hong Kong. The vessels were the " Olympia," protect*"'J cruiser; 
850 



THE NAVAL WAR WITH SPAIN. 85I 

" Raleigh," " Baltimore," and " Boston," cruisers ; " Concord " and " Petrel, " 
gunboats, and the revenue cutter " McCulloch." Not a very powerful 
fleet — not a battle-ship nor even an armored cruiser among them — but the 
ships carried crews of as sturdy Yankee blue-jaclcets as ever trained a gun, 
and when the time came for daring an enemy's fire the little " Petrel " was 
as dashing and defiant as the stoutest of steel-clads could be. In command 
of the squadron was Admiral George Dewey, a Vermonter, who served 
with Farragut and had his baptism of fire at the forts below New Orleans. 
In time of peace the war record of a subaltern is quickly forgotten, and 
Dewey patiently climbed the ladder of promotion until 1898 found him 
a commodore and in command of the Asiatic squadron, without anybody's 
remembering particularly that this officer in far Hong Kong had seen 
fighting and knew how to bear himself under fire. It is a significant fact 
that when he had won the first great victory of the war, and the news- 
papers were searching everywhere for stories illustrative of his character, 
it was discovered that he had chiefly impressed himself on the Washington 
mind by his excessive punctiliousness in matters of dress. 

Four days after the declaration of war there was a commotion on the 
.=hips of Dewey's squadron. The signal to weigh anchor flew from the fore- 
mast of the " Olympia," and everybody knew that the admiral had received 
fighting orders. For some days past the ships had been in their battle 
rigging. The white paint had been covered by a dull greenish-gray. All 
woodwork, railings, and unnecessary hamper had been stripped ofi and 
sent ashore. The ofificers' baggage was reduced to the barest necessities. 
Nothing was left anywhere on board which could be turned into a cloud of 
flying splinters by a shell, or which cumbered the decks to the incon- 
venience of the gunners. The warships which, in time of peace, were as 
bright and sparkling as a well-kept yacht, had put on the sullen, vicious air 
of war. 

Dewey's objective point when he set sail from the harbor of Hong 
Kong was the Asiatic squadron of Spain, under the command of Admiral 
Montojo. There was every reason to believe that he would find the enemy 
under the protecting guns of the forts that guarded the harbor of Manila. 
in tncmselvcs the Spanish ships were no match for the American fleet. 
Inree pood ships had Admiral Montojo — the " Rcina Cristina," the " Cas- 
tilla," and the " Don Antonio de UHoa " : but his others were old-fashioned 



8=;2 THE NAVAL WAR WITH SPAIN. 

and lacking in modern armament. But should tliey take positions under 
the guns of the Spanish forts, at the end of a channel plentifully guarded 
by mines and torpedoes, the disparity in forces would disappear. As it 
occurred this was precisely what tliey did, giving Admiral Dewey oppor- 
tunity to put into practice tactics which it seems he had studied for months 
in anticipation of exactly such an emergency. 

On the night of April 30 the American ships arrived at the entrance of 
Manila harbor, unseen by the sentries on the forts. It was known that 
Montojo was inside, and every light was extinguished and every noise 
hushed on the Yankee ships, for the admiral had planned a midnight 
entrance to the stronghold. The ships were stripped for action, boats 
covered with canvas, nettings spread to prevent splinters from flying, 
partitions removed, and ammunition hoists and bullet shields put up. At 
midnight the entrance to the harbor began, the ships steaming in single 
column at about six knots an hour, with the " Olj'mpia " leading. 
Strangely enough not a single torpedo or mine in the channel was 
exploded, though the Spaniards discovered the advance of the ships and 
opened fire from the forts. The first shot in answer was fired by a gunner 
on the " Boston," without orders. He saw the flash of a gun on a shore 
battery and instantly fired his piece without altering its elevation. That 
dismantled a gun in the Spanish works and killed thirty men. 

For a few hours after passing the forts the wearied blue-jackets slept at 
their guns. With the approach of day came the signal from the flagship 
to prepare for action. In the gray dawn the Spanish fleet could be seen 
about two miles distant, at such a point that their fire could be re-enforced 
by the guns of the forts. A most graphic story of the action that followed, 
as seen from the view-point of " the man behind the gun, " whom Captain 
Mahan eulogizes, is told by Chief Gunner Evans of the " Boston," from 
whose narrative I quote the following paragraphs : 

"We were steaming very slowly, but increasing speed as the dawn increased. In the 
gray daylight we could make out a line of ships anchored in front of the city. Then wc 
steamed ahead faster. The ships ahead proved to be merchantmen, and at daylight w,^ 
could discern the Spanish fleet further down the bay, and then it was ' Full ahead ! ' The 
Spanisli fleet did not advance to meet us, and apparently made no move on the defensive 
Possibly our audacity had for the moment paralyzed them. But it was not for long. Ir 
twenty minutes or so they opened a terrific cannonading at long range. The batteries an< 



THE NAVAL WAR WITH SPAIN. 853 

forts around Manila opened fire a; the same time. Every man on the ship was now wide 
awake and at his post. I knew that it would not be long before there would be some hot 
work, and I served my men with a cup of coffee and a piece of hardtack, and a little later 
gave them each a drink of whisky and water. 

" According to orders, we did not respond to the Spanish guns until our ships came into 
position. Then the flagship opened fire, and then I followed with two hours of cannonad- 
ing which I do not believe has ever been equaled in naval warfare. The shots from the 
' Olympia ' were the prearranged signal for the other ships to do the same. 

■' We soon discovered that the batteries of Cavit6 were very heavily mounted, and the 
ordnance included several ten-inch guns, and we were not long in finding out that the 
' Don Antonio de Ulloa ' and the ' Reina Cristina,' the flagship, carried much heavier guns 
than we thought. We began to fear that our ships had met their match. As hot as the 
battle was, the heat of the sun was equally so, and I had my men who were bringing up 
the ammunition throw off every vestige of clothing except their shoes. 

" The Spanish guns had opened upon us at 5,10 a. m., and it was fully 5.40 before we 
began to reply. But when we did. we made every shot tell, for our gunners demonstrated 
that their opponents were no njatch for tliein in accuracy, although the Spaniards had 
every advantage and should have known tlie exact range of every point in the haibor, 
while of the American fleet not a single gunner had ever as much as been in the harbor 
before. 

" By 6.30 we had circled three times, and were starting for the fourth when the 
Spanish admiral came out in the ' Reina Cristina ' and gallantly assailed us ; but we made 
it hot for him. I don't know how in the world he escaped with his life. While he was 
standing on the bridge a shot frors one of our ships — I think it was the ' Concord ' — blew 
the bridge clean over; in fact, shot it right from under him, but the Admiral was appar- 
ently uninjured, for a few minutes later I saw him walking the deck as calmly as though he 
was on parade. It was getting too hot for him, and he evidently saw that his ship was no 
match for us, and he turned to get back to his fleet. 

" Just as the ' Reina Cristina ' swung around an eight-inch shell from the port battery, 
which I was tending, struck her square astern, and set her on fire. By this time other gun- 
ners had got the range, and if ever a ship was riddled it was the ' Reina Cristina.' I do not 
think it was fifteen minutes from the time the shell from the ' Boston ' struck her when she 
went down with, it is said, over two liundred men. The Admiral, however, had escaped in 
a small boat and made for the ' Isla de Cuba,' where he again hoisted his flag. 

" After we had circled five times, we withdrew. The smoke was so dense that we could 
hardly distinguish friend from foe. Our men had worked three long hours with scarcely a 
mouthful of food. I had, however kept my men well supplied with whisky and water. I 
gave each a small drink about every twenty minutes. 

" After we had withdrawn, and the clouds of smoke had lifted enough so that we could 
see. Admiral Dewey signaled the ships 'o report the number of killed and wounded. It 
would have done your heart good to have heard the shouts and cheers that went up as ship 



854 THE NAVAL WAR WITH SPAIN. 

after ship ran up the signal to intlicate that she had no killed and none wounded worth 
reporting. It was one of the most thrilling moments of the entire battle. 

" It was a wise move on Admiral Dewey's part in withdrawing at that moment, for our 
men were rapidly becoming exhausted. For my own part I do not think I could have held 
out another half hour, and neither could my men. We were not only wearied physically, 
but the nervous strain was something awful. I called my men into the gunroom and 
served each with a good stiff drink of w-hisky and told them to take all the rest they could 
get. I went into the chartroom, as it was about the coolest place on the ship, and threw 
myself on the chart table. I was too nervous to sleep and too exhausted to move. I just 
lay there sort of dazed. 

" Soon after ten o'clock we advanced again, and the ' Baltimore ' opened the fight. As 
many of the Spanish ships had been disabled, what we most feared now was the forts. 
The ' Baltimore ' sailed right into the very teeth of the guns, any one of which could have 
annihilated her, and only bad marksmanship of the Spanish gunners saved her from 
destruction, and she did not retreat until she had practically silenced the fort. 

" My ship, the ' Boston,' was perhaps struck oftener during the battle than any of the 
American ships, but in every instance it was small shot or shell, making a glancing blow 
that did no particular harm. After the first hour or so of the battle, if we had received 
a damaging shot, the chances are that we would have all gone down, for out of all the ship's 
boats, only two were of any value, the others having been shattered to pieces. 

" We were circling in line with the other ships when the ' Isla de Cuba ' swung around 
to give us a broadside. The guns in the port battery got the range on the ' Isla de Cuba,' 
and sent in a shot that struck in amidships and made her tremble from stem to stem. 
I was watching at the porthole at the time. The other guns of the ' Boston ' followed the 
example of the port gunner, and for a few minutes it seemed that the ' Isla de Cuba ' was 
crumbling to pieces like a falling building in an earthciuake. We turned, and the starboard 
guns did equally good work, and when the Spanish flag came tumbling down we let out 
a yell that was heard around the world, figuratively speaking, if not literally. 

" I can never forget the scene after the battle. The forts were smoking, and scattered 
all through the bay were the hulks of once magnificent Spanish ships. Some were drifting 
helplessly about, as though the men on board seemed not to know what to do and had lost 
their heads entirely. Rigging was trailing in the water and only remnants remained of the 
lifeboats. Over at one end of the bay was the wreck of the once magnificent ' Reina 
Cristina.' Further along were smoking hulks, and here and there could be seen only the 
masts and rigging above water. 

" To add to the horror of the scene, hundreds of corpses came floating by, and it 
seemed as though the bay was full of dead Spaniards, although I believe less than a thou- 
sand were killed. I really think that the sight in the harbor that afternoon impressed men 
more with the horrors of war than did anything which occurred during the actual battle. 

" During all the fight my men, except for a little while during the interval for breakfast, 
were stripped to the bare skin and wore only their shoes. The thermometer was over one 



THE NAVAL WAR WITH SPAIN. 855 



hundred, and to this was added the heat of the tire of the guns, until it made one's blooil 
fairly boil." 

The plan of action was for the fleet to revolve in a great circle or 
ellipse before the delivering their fire from starboard and port batteries 
alternately. The first shot from the " Olympia " was a 250-pound shell, 
aimed at the Cavit^ fort, and discharged with a shout from all hands, 
" Remember the Maine ! " After two hours' fighting tlie fleet withdrew 
for breakfast, returning to action in about two hours, and after the Spanish 
surrender the little " Petrel " was sent in to destroy, by boats' crews, the 
ships in the inner harbor. 

Commodore Dewey's official report of the action is a model of modesty 
and brevity. It came in these two cable messages : 

Manila, May l. — Squadron arrived at Manila at daybreak this morning. Immedi- 
ately engaged the enemy, and destroyed the following Spanish vessels : " Reina Cristina," 
" Castilla," " Don Antonio de Ulloa," " Isla de Luzon," " Isla de Cuba," " General Lezo," 
" Marquis de Duero," " Cano," " Velasco," " Isla de Mindanao," a transport, and water 
battery at Cavit6. The squadron is uninjured, and only a few men are slightly wounded. 
Only means of telegraphing is to American Consul at Hong Kong. I shall communicate 
with him. Dewey. 

Cavit6, May 4. — I have taken possession of naval station at Cavite, on Philippine 
Islands. Have destroyed the fortifications at bay entiance, paroling the garrison. I con- 
trol bay completely, and can take city at any time. The sqnachon is in e.xcellent hcaltli and 
spirits. Spanish loss not fully known but very heavy. One hundred and fifty killed, includ- 
ing captain of " Reina Cristina." I am assisting in protecting Spanish sick and wounded ; 
250 sick and wounded in hospital within our lines. Much excitement at Manila. Will 
protect foreign residents. ^Dewev. 

It is little short of marvelous that no lives were lost on tlie American 
shijjs — though a month later Captain Gridley of the "Olympia" died from 
the effect of the concussion of his own guns. The vessels were handled with 
a daring amounting almost to bravado, yet so poor was the marksmanship 
of the Spaniards that little or no damage was suffered. It is to be l<c'pt in 
mind that, despite the disparity in the armament of the fleets, the Spanisli 
works at Cavite mounted guns of twice tlie weight of any that Dewey's 
ships bore. Yet, when the action was over, tlie American vessels were 
practically uninjured, and perfectly capable of fulfilling the threat sent by 



THE NAVAL WAR WITH SPAIN. 



Admiral Dewey, that if another shot was fired he would lay Manila in 
ashes. 

For months that threat alone kept order in Manila Bay. But at last the 
long-awaited troops, under command of Gen. Wesley Merritt, began arriving 
by transports. July 31st the Spaniards delivered a fierce attack upon the 
American forces ashore, but were repulsed. On August 13th, after — as we 
shall see in a later chapter — an armistice had been declared between Spain 
and the United States, Commodore Dewey, knowing nothing of the peace 
arrangements, bombarded the city. All the ships in the fleet joined in the 
bombardment, the Olympia leading. Under cover of this fire, which stilled 
the Spanish batteries, though it did little harm to the city, the United 
States troops pressed forward until the Spanish commander surrendered. 
Manila thereupon became the first outpost of the United States in Asiatic 
waters. 



In the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, where it was 
expected the fighting would come first and be most decisive, the war lagged 
languidly for weeks. For a few days the jackies found some excitement 
and some hope of profit in capturing unsuspecting Spanish merchantmen, 
but soon the dull and deadly monotony of the peaceful blockade settled 
down upon the fleet, and Sampson's men grilled grimly under a blazing sun 
by day and slept uneasily by their guns at night, week after week, without 
a touch of battle to vary the dull round. Blockading is the most try- 
ing duty the blue-jacket has to discharge. Destitute wholly of glory, the 
element of danger is still ever present in a form which is particularly trying 
to the nerves. Every night brought danger of an attack by torpedo boats. 
These swift and sinister craft might at any time dart out of Havana har- 
bor, discharge their fatal bolt, and send a good ship to the bottom as 
speedily as went the "Maine." That the Spaniards at no time even si -i- 
ously attempted a torpedo-boat attack on the blockading squadron seems 
to reflect on their courage. But what they lacked apparently in courage 
they made up in shrewdness. For weeks the best efforts of our board 
of strategy and our board of naval intelligence were baffled by the mysteri- 
ous movements of the Spanish fleet under Admiral Cervera. This squad- 
ron, which numbered among its vessels the powerful armored cruisers 
"Vizcaya," "Maria Teresa," Cristobal Colon," and "Almirante Oquendo," 



THE NAVAL WAR WITH SPAIN. 857 



was reported now at the Canaries, then at Cadiz, then dashing through 
the Suez Canal to overwhchn Dcwcy at Manila, then off the coast of New 
England, — whereat Boston and Portland were mightily alarmed, — then 
bound South to capture or destroy the " Oregon," — which was painfully 
making the voyage around Cape Horn.-^then at Martinique, and, in 
short, at every conceivable point of menace. As a result of these conflict- 
ing reports, two American fleets were reduced to impotence. The 
" flying squadron " of fast cruisers under Commodore Schley was kept 
for weeks at moorings in Hampton Roads ready to be dispatched for 
protection of our northern coasts, while the squadron of battleships 
under Admiral Sampson was made to steam hither and yon in the 
Caribbean Sea looking for an enemy's fleet which much of the time lay 
snugly on the other side of the Atlantic. Accordingly, up to June 15, the 
results of naval operations in West Indian waters were almost nil. Powder 
had been burned indeed as when, on April 27, the Spanish works at Matan- 
zas were bombarded and silenced by the " New York," " Puritan," and 
" Cincinnati," of Admiral Sampson's squadron, and on May 13 the works 
at San Juan, Porto Rico, were similarly tested. Deeds of conspicuous gal- 
lantry, too, were done, as when Ensign Worth Bagley lost his life while 
gallantly engaging Spanish gunboats and shore batteries with the torpedo 
boat " Winslow " at Cardenas. But these actions, though seized upon 
eagerly by a public hungry for war news, were inconclusive and trivial. 
The shore batteries were quickly repaired and strengthened, and the great 
object of capturing Havana seemed at the middle of June even further off 
than it had when war was declared. 

Nevertheless, May and June saw a marked progress in the work of prep- 
aration for active hostilities. The army was mobilized and a great camp 
established at Tampa, Fla. Schley's flying squadron, finally relieved from 
apprehension as to the course of the Spanish fleet, left Hampton Roads to 
increase the naval strength in West Indian waters. The great battleship 
"Oregon," after a record-beating voyage around Cape Horn, in which her 
machinery met and withstood every imaginable strain, arrived at the ren- 
dezvous. And finally it was definitely learned that Admiral Cervera, with 
Spain's principal effective fleet, was actually in West Indian waters, and 
had entered the port of Santiago de Cuba for coal and repairs. There he 
was trapped by an exploit which has conferred new glory on the United 



g^S THE NAVAL WAR WITH SPAIN. 

States Navy and has added a new name to the roster of dashing heroes 
hke Somers and Gushing. 

The harbor of Santiago de Cuba is one of the most easily defended in 
tlie world. Steep hills rise abruptly from either side of the harbor's 
mouth, which is scarce half amile wide, with a channel so narrow that two 
vessels could scarcely pass in it. Into the brow of the hills are built bat- 
teries which, with plunging shot, command the entrance completely. An 
abrupt turn in the interior shore line makes the whole inner bay invisible 
from without, so for days the officers and men of the United States block- 
ading fleet outside were ignorant whether Cervera's entire fleet was cooped 
up within. To send in a boat to make a reconnoissance would have been 
suicidal, for the channel, difficult at all times, was blocked by mines and 
torpedoes. For this reason, too, there could be no repetition of Dewey's 
exploit at Manila. 

Accordingly, Admiral Sampson was confronted with a problem which 
seemed likely to tax the patience rather than the daring of his men. 
There seemed to be no opportunity for more exciting duty than a long 
blockade, unless the Spaniards should conclude to come out and fight — a 
most unlikely decision for them to reach. The forts, in all probability, 
could be reduced by the ships' cannon, but, even with that done, to 
enter the harbor in single file, so that the undisturbed fire of Cervera's fleet 
could be directed upon the Americans, ship by ship, as they entered the 
bay, would have been a most hazardous undertaking. The situation was 
not made more pleasing to the admiral by the fact that he was not sure of 
having all the Spanish ships in the trap. Some might not have entered 
Santiago, but might be at that very time devastating portions of the coast 
of the United States. 

While the admiral was considering the problem thus presented to him, 
there appeared at his cabin a young lieutenant, Richmond P. Hobson, a 
graduate of the Naval Academy in 1889. The scientific side of naval duty 
had always chiefly attracted this young man. Graduating at the head of 
his class, he studied naval construction for two years in British dockyards. 
Above all things a student, a contributor to magazines, a delver into math- 
ematical and structural problems, this young officer outlined to the admiral 
an exploit of reckless daring and volunteered himself to perform it. 

It was folly, urged Hobson, to keep the entire American fleet watching 



THE NAVAL WAR WITH SPAIN. 859 



at the door to that harbor. The Spaniards, doing nothing and daring 
nothing themselves, were still reducing Admiral Sampson's powerful squad- 
ron to complete impotence. If the entrance to the harbor were obstructed 
one or two ships would serve to prevent the Spaniards from escaping, and 
the remainder of the American fleet would be released to take part in 
more vigorous warfare. By sinking a vessel, an old collier heavily laden, in 
the channel this could be accomplished, and Hobson volunteered to per- 
form the feat. It was an invitation to almost certain death, for the fire of 
three batteries and part of the Spanish fleet, besiilcs the explosion of the 
mines, must be braved before the narrow spot in which the ship was to be 
sunk could be reached. But Hobson thought he could do this, scuttle his 
ship, and escape with his men by swimming to a launch which should 
accompany him at a distance. 

" Do you really expect to escape alive ?" asked one of the officers as he 
outlined his project. 

" Ah ! that is another thing," replied the lieutenant. " I suppose the 
Estrella battery will fire down on us a bit, but the ships will throw their 
searchlights in the gunners' faces and they won't see much of us. Then, if 
we are torpedoed, we should even then be able to make the desired position 
in the channel. It won't be so easy to hit us, and I think the men should be 
able to swim to the dingey. I may jump before I am blown up, but I don't 
see that it makes much difference what I do. I have a fair chance of life 
either way. If our dingey gets shot to pieces, we shall then try to swim 
for the beach right under Morro Castle. We shall keep together at all 
hazards. Then we may be able to make our way alongside, and perhaps 
get back to the ship. We shall fight the sentries or a squad until the last, 
and we shall only surrender to overwhelming numbers." 

The plan being approved by the admiral, volunteers were asked from 
the fleet, by signal, to accompany Hobson. Practically the whole fleet 
responded. One man was wanted from each .ship, but on the " Brooklyn " 
150 and on the " Texas " 140 pleaded to be taken. Finally these seven 
were selected : 

Osborn Deignan, a coxswain of the " Mcrrimac " ; George I*". Phillips, 
a machinist of the " Merrimac " ; John Kelly, a water-tender of the " Mer- 
rimac " ; George Charette, a gunner's mate on the flagship " New York "; 
Daniel Montague, a seaman of the cruiser " Brooklyn " ; J. C. Murphy, 



86o THE NAVAI. WAR WITH SPAIN. 

a coxswain of the " Iowa" ; Randolph Clausen, a coxswain of the " New 
York." 

To man the launch which was detailed to follow the " ]\Icirimac " — the 
ship chosen — four men and Naval Cadet Joseph W. Powell were taken. 
In the end they, too, proved to be heroes. 

The steel steamer " Merrimac," loaded with 2,000 tons of coal, was then 
given to Hobson and prepared for sinking. An eye-witness, who followed 
the " Merrimac " as nearly as safety would permit, thus tells the story in 
the New York Si/n: 

" Cadet Powell and his crew saw the ' Merrimac ' head straight for Estrella Point, 
which is on the east side of tiie harbor, back of the Morro. They knew that just before 
she reached that point the engines were to be stopped and the momentum allowed to carry 
her on. Then the flimsy wooden props holding the bonnets of her sea-valves in place were 
to be kicked aside, tlie helm put hard to starboard, and the starboard bower a'nchor let go. 
This would steer the ship directly across the channel and check her headway. 

" At the same time seven reduced eight-inch charges, containing eighty pounds of brown 
powder in copper cases and protected by pitch from water, were to be set off separately. 
These charges were suspended about ten feet below the water-line at intervals of thirty 
feet, and connected by a series of dry batteries. As the ship steered across the channel 
the forward port powder charge was to be exploded. Then, as the stern swung into posi- 
tion, the anchor lashed on the starboard quarter was to be let go and the other six charges 
exploded in succession. A catamaran and lifeboat were slung aft on the starboard side 
ready for the seven men to drop into them. 

" The crew in the steam launch watched the course of the old collier with eyes strained. 
The moon had sunk behind the horizon. It was 3.20 o'clock. On, on the heroes went. 
Lieutenant Hobson stood on the bridge of the old collier, dressed in full uniform. The 
other six men were at their posts, clad in tights, to aid their escape in case they had to 
swim a long distance. 

" The watchers saw her head straight for Estrella Point, saw her swing hard across the 
channel, apparently undiscovered, heard five of the seven charges explode, and then began 
a screaming, flashing, death-dealing fire from the Spanish ships and batteries that hid the 
rest from view. 

" The battery on Dead Man's Point, square in the center of the harbor, opened the fire 
and soon directed its guns against the launch. In the f.ice of tltis hell, with ten- and 
twelve-inch guns blazing at them at this short range. Cadet Powell and the crew of his 
launch continued to search for the men of the ' Merrimac' 

"They saw then the guns of the ' Cristobal Colon,' Admiral Cervera's flagship, and of 
the old cruiser ' Reina Mercedes,' which had been considered gunless, trained on them and 
thundering in their ears. 




NAVAL CONSTRUCTOR RICHMOND I'F.ARSON HOBSON, WHO SANK THE MtRRIMAC IN SANTIAGO 
HARBOR, JUNE j, 1 898. 



THE NAVAL WAR WITH SPAIN. 86l 

" Still they searched with never as much as a faint cry for help or the sign of a single 
ami raised in mute appeal to guide them. Those on the battleship looking into the nioutli 
of the harbor saw only a sheet of flame which, with the roar of the guns, lasted thirty-lne 
minutes. By this time dawn had tinged the land and sky with light, and the tiny launch 
could be seen loitering by the shore. On the west side of the harbor, in the center of the 
channel, just where Hobson had promised to sink his vessel, could be seen the tops of the 
' Merrimac's 'masts. The harbor was blocked." 

Hobson and his gallant men were not lost. A shot from one of the 
batteries destroyed the boat in which they had expected to reach the 
launch, but on a raft they escaped from their sinking vessel, only to be 
captured by the Spaniards. With sailor-like chivalry and hearty admira- 
tion for a gallant deed Admiral Cervera sent word to the fleet of their 
safety and offered to exchange them as soon as the necessary formalitips 
could be complied with. 




CHAPTER III. 



THE SPANISH FLEET MAKES A DASH FROM THE HARBOR — ITS TOTAL 
DESTRUCTION — ADMIRAL CERVERA A PRISONER — GREAT SPANISH 
LOSSES — AMERICAN FLEET LOSES BUT ONE MAN — SPAIN EXPELLED 
PROM THE WEST INDIES — THE RESTORATION OF PEACE. 

WHEN the event was least expected the Spaniards made a des- 
perate dash from the harbor, seeking freedom but finding only 
death. 
July :Jd the land forces of General Shafter were closing in on San- 
tiago. There had been hard fighting for two daj-s, in which both sides 
had shown dogged courage, but the Spaniards had been beaten back into 
the city, which the Americiins almost completely invested. Though 
Shafter had but few heavy siege guns, many of the shells from his field 
artillery fell in the streets of the town and produced a panic there. 

Admiral Cervera had landed some of his rapid-fire guns in aid of Gen- 
eral Linares, and his marines fought with the Spanish soldiers. But as the 
American advance continued he saw that he would be caught in a trap 
and ground to pieces between Shafter and Samjison. So he made up his 
mind to the desperate chance of slipping out and trj-ing to run past the 
American squadron, 
862 



THE NAVAL WAR WITH SPAIN. 863 

At 9.30 on the morning of the 3d the lookout on the "Texas" saw- 
smoke rising above ilorro Castle. Immediately after, the black prow of a 
warship appeared in the channel coming out at full speed. It was the 
"Almirante Oquendo." Instantly the "Texas" broke out with bunting 
signaling to all the vessels of the fleet that the Spaniards were coming out. 
(In every side rung out the bugles and clattered gongs calling the crews of 
the American ships to quarters. Admiral Sampson with the "New York" 
was far away, and Commodore Schley with the "Brooklyn" commanded 
Ihe fleet. The odds were not so greatly in favor of the Americans, for the 
L^paniards had four armored cruisers and two torpedo-boat destroyers, 
while the Americans had five battleships, one armored cruiser and a yacht. 
The superiority of the Spaniards in rapid-fire guns was very great. 

The "Brooklyn," thinly clad with armor, dashed first into the fray and 
was soon engaged with four armored vessels, each her superior; the 
"Iowa," "Texas" and "Oregon" rushed to her aid. It was soon apparent 
that the Spaniards were more intent on running than fighting. Neverthe- 
less, they kept up a rapid fu-e, but showed the bad marksmanship which 
characterized Montojo s gunners at Manila. One shell from the "Oquendo" 
crashed through the pilot-house of the "Texas" just after Captain Phihp 
had left it for the securer retreat of the conning tower, and one exjjloded in 
the smokestack. These were about the most effective shots aimed by the 
enemy. 

A correspondent of the New York "Journal" and the "Sun" stationed 
aboard the "Texas" sent the most graphic account of the battle which has 
at this date, July 0, been printed. Some extracts from it will give a clear 
account of the fighting : 

"Almost before the leading ship was clear of the .shadow of Morro (Jastle the liglit 
had begun. Admiral Cervera started it by a shell from tlie 'Almirante Oquendo,' to 
which he had transferred his flag. It struck none of the American vessels. In a twink- 
ling the bit; guns of the 'Texas' belclied forth their tli under, whicli was followed 
immediately by a heavy fire from our otlier ships. Tlie Spaniards turned to the west- 
ward under full .steam, pouring a constant fire on our ships, and evidently hoping to 
get away by their superior speed. 

"The 'Texas,' still heading in shore, kept up a hot exchange of shots with tlie fore- 
most ships, wliich gradually drew away to the westward under the shadow of the hills. 
Tlie third of the Spanish vessels, the 'Vizcaya' or 'Infanta Maria Teresa,' was caught 
by the 'Texas' in good fighting range, and it was she tliat engaged the chief attention of 
the first battleship commissioned in the American Navy. The "Texas' steamed west 
with her adversary, and as .she could not catch her with s|)eed she did with her shells. 

"The din of the ^uns was so terrific that orders had to be yelled close to the messengers' 



864 THK NAVAL WAR WITH 8PAIN. 



pars, ;iiiil at times the smoke was so thick that abst-luttly nolliiii^ could be seen. Once 
or twice the 12-inch guns in ihi; turrets were swung across the ship and fired. The con- 
cussion shook tiio gieiU vessel as though slie ha 1 been stru(;k by a great ball, and every- 
thing movable was splintered. The men near tlie guns were thrown flat on their 
faces. 

"Meanwhile the "Oregon' liad come in on tJie run. She passed the 'Texas' and chased 
after Commodore Soliley, on the "Brooklyn,' to hoaJ olT the foremost of the Spanish 
ships. The 'Iowa' also turned lier course westward, and kept up a hot fire on the run- 
ning enemy. 

"At 10.10 o'clock the third of the Spanish sliips. the one that liad been exchanging 
compliments witli the "Texas," was seen to lie on lire and a mighty cheer went up from 
our ships. Tlie Spaniard heaiied for the shore and tiie "Texas' turned her attention to 
the one following. The 'Brooklyn' and 'Oregun,' after a few parting shots, also left her 
contemptuously and made all steam and shell after the foremost two of the Spanish 
ships, the "Almirante Oquendo' and the 'Ciislobal Colon.' 

"Just then the two torpedo-boat destroyers "PI iton' and 'Furor' were discovered. 
Thpy had come out after the cruisers without being seen, and were boldly heading west 
ilown the coast. 'All small guns on the torpedo boats' was the order ou the "Texas,' and 
in an instant a hail of shot was pouring all about them. A 6-pounder from the star- 
board battery of the "Texas," under Ensign Giso, struck the foremost torpedo boat fairly 
in the boiler. 

'"A rending ^ound was lieard above the roar of battle. A great spout of black smoke 
shot up from that destroyer and she was out of commisjiion. The "Iowa,' which was 
coming up fast, threw a few complimentary shots at the second torpedo-boat destroyer 
an.l passed on. The little 'Gloucester,' formerly a yacht, then sailed in and finished the; 
second boat." 

The "Gloucester" of which the <;orrespondent speaks was in command 
of Lieutenant-Commander Wainwright, who had been the executive ofificer 
of tho "Maine." For two months after the disaster to that vessel Wain- 
wright lived ou a United States ship in the harbor of Havana, refusing to 
set foot on shore untU he could go "with a landing party of marines." In 
his attack on the torpedo-boat dcstro_yers — vastly superior to liis craft in 
weight and armament— ho threw prudence to the winds and fought witii 
a fierceness bred of bitter hatred for the Dons. His was the most stirring 
display of personal courage shown on a day when all were brave. 

To return to the correspondent's account : 



"Gun for gun and shot for sliot the running fight was kept up between the Spani-'i 
cruisers and the four .Vmerican ves-^els. At lO.IW o'<dock the "Infan'a Maria Teresa' an I 
•Vizcaya' were almost on the beaedi. an 1 were evidently in distress. As the 'Textis' w 's 
firing at them a while flag was run up on the one nearest her. 'Cease firing,' c.iM • I 
Captain Philip, and a moment later both the Spaniards were beached. Clouds of black 
smoke arosL- from each, and iTight Hashes of flame could be seen shining through t'lf 
smoke. Boats were visible putting out from the cruisers to the shore. Tlie "Iowa' 
waited to see that the two warships were really out of the fight, and it did not take hei 



THE NAVAL WAR WITH SPAIN. 865 

long to determine that they would neve.r fight again. The 'Iowa' herself had sufTereJ 
some very hard knocks. 

"The 'Brooklyn,' 'Oregon' and 'Texas' pushed ahead after the 'Colon' and "Almirante 
Oquendo,' which were now running the race of their lives along the coast. At 10.50 
o'clock, when Admiral Cervera's llagship, the 'Almirante Oqtien lo,' suddetdy headed in 
shore, she had tlie 'Brooklyn" and 'Oregon' abeam and the 'Te.Kas' astern. 'The 'Brook 
lyn' and 'Oregon' pushed on after the 'Cristobal Colon,' wliich wa.s making fin;' time ami 
which looked as if slie might escape, leaving the 'Texas' to finish the 'Almirante 
Oquendo.' This work did not take long. The Spanish sliip was already burning. At 
11.05 o'clock down came a yellow and red flag at her stern. Just as the Texas' got 
abeam of lier she was shaken by a mighty explosion. 

"The crew of the 'Texas' started to cheer. 'Don't cheer, because the poor devils are 
dying,' called Captain Philip, and the "Texas' left tlie 'Almirante Oquendo" to her fate lo 
join in the chase of the 'Cristobal Colon." 

"That ship in desperation was plowing the waters at a rate tliat caused tlie fast 
'Brooklyn' trouble. The 'Oregon' made great sueed for a battleship, and the 'Te.vas' 
made the effort of her life. Never since her trial trip lia 1 she maile such ticne. 

"The 'Brooklyn' might have proved a match to the 'Cristobal Colon" in speed, but she 
was not supposed to be lier match in strength. 

"It would never do to allow even one of the Spanish ships to get away. Straight 
into the west the stronge-t chase of midern times took place. The 'Brooklyn' headed 
the pursuers. She stood well out from ihe shore in order to try to cut off the 'Cristobal 
Colon' at a point jutting out into the sea far ahead. The 'Oregon' kept a middle course 
about a mile from tlie cruiser. The desperate Don ran close along the shore, an 1 now 
and then he tlirew a shell of ileiiauce. The old 'Texas' kept well up in llie chase under 
forced draught for over two hours. 

"The fleet Spaniard led the Americans a merry chase, but she had no chance. The 
'Brooklyn' gradually forged ahead, so that the escape of the 'Cristobal Colon" was cut 
off at the point above mentioned. The 'Oregon' was abeam of the 'Colon' then, and the 
gallant Don gave it up. 

"At 1.15 o'clock he headed for the shore, and five minutes later down came the 
Spanish flag. None of our ships wjs then within a mile of her. but her escape was cut 
off. The 'Texas,' 'Oregon' and 'Brooklyn' closed in on her and st ipped their engines a 
few hundred yards away. 

"Commodore Schley left tlie 'Brooklyn' in a small boat and went aboard the 'Cristobal 
Colon' and received the surrender. Meantime the 'New York,' with Admiral Sampson 
on board, and the 'Vixen' were coming up on the run. Commodore S;ihlcy signaled to 
Admiral Sampson; 'We have won a great victory; details will be communicated.' 

"Then for an hour after the surrender in that little cove under the high hills was a 
general Fourtli of July celebration, though a little premature. Our shijis cheered one 
.•mother, the captains indulged in comijliments tlirougli the megaphones, and tlie 
'Oregon" got out its band, and the strains of the 'Star-S|>anglc,l Banner" echoed over the 
lines of Spaniards drawn up on the deck of the last of the Spanish fleet, and up over 
the lofty green-tipped hills of the Cuban mountains. 

"Commo<lore Schley, coming alongside the 'Texas' from the 'Cristobal Colon' in his 
gig, called out clieerily, 'It was a nice fight. Jack, wasn't ii'/' 

"The veterans of the 'Texas' lined up and gave three hearty cheers and a tiger for 
their old commander-in-chief. Captain Philip callol all hands to the ipiarter-deck, and, 
with bared head, thanked Goi for the almost bloodless victory. 

" 'I want to make public! a<!knowleclgment here,' he said, 'that I believe in God V'lO 
Father Almighty. I want all you officers and men to lift your hats and from your 
hearts offe- silent thanks to the Almighty.' 



866 THE NAVAL WAR WITH SPAIX. 



"All hats were off. There was a moment or two of absolute silence, and then the 
overwrought feelings of the ship's company relieved themselves in three hearty cheers 
for their beloved commander," 



By this victory the naval power of Spain was effectively and finally 
crushed. She lost four fine armored ships and two large destroyers. In 
killed, wounded and prisoners her loss exceeded eighteen hundred men, 
while but one American was slain. Among the prisoners was Admiral 
Cervera, whose dignified bearing in the presence of disaster won for him 
the high regard of the Americans, his foes. The value of the property 
lost to bankrupt Spain exceeded thirteen million dollars. 

It was quickly apparent to everybody except the Spaniards that the 
destruction of Cervera's fleet, and the consequent annihilation of Spain's 
sea power in this hemisphere, practically ended the war. Without ships 
Spain could in no way oppose the movements of our troops to any of 
her island possessions. Without ships, indeed, the defense of Santiago 
could not be maintained, and that important point, with its garrison of 
several thousand men, was surrendered Avithin a week of the annihila- 
tion of Cervera. It was time indeed; for, the rainy season having set 
in, the sickness and mortality among the United States soldiers in the 
trenches reached a point which threatened the very existence of the 
army. As fast a~s possible the regiments which suffered most with 
the malarial plague were loaded upon transports and sent North, im- 
mune regiments being retained to garrison the captured city. Meanwhile, 
as though spurred on by success, the Administration at Washington 
made every effort to press the war with unremitting vigor. Gen- 
eral Miles with an army of invasion landed in Porto Rico and marched 
into the interior of that rich and salubrious island, meeting scarcely 
a single check. The Spaniards seemed too disheartened to resist. And 
indeed at this very moment the Ministry at Madrid was preparing to 
make overtures of peace. Though a bold front was maintained, and 
the Cadiz squadron under Admiral Camara was sent into the Suez 
Canal as though to menace Dewey at Manila, the Spanish rulers 
nevertheless recognized the inevitable. Late in July they signified to 
the President, through the French Ambassador at Washington, M. 
Cambon, their wilhngness to consider peace proposals. An informal 
armistice followed, and at several points in the West Indies the United 



THE NAVAL WAR WITH SPAIN 867 

States ships were stopped in the very midst of active battle by the 
news of the suspension of hostilities. The "Newark," for example, 
was bombarding Manzanillo when the news reached hor omniauder. 
On the I'-ith of August the formal Protocol which ended hostilities 
was signed. 

The war lasted one hundred and thirteen days, and was one of the 
most s^v^ftly decisive struggles in history. By it Spanish naval power 
in the West Indies and on the Pacific was annihilated. As i<^s inevi- 
table result Spain will be expelled from the West Indies— lef I without 
a foothold in that New World which Columbus discovered by the aid 
of Spain's great monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella. In the Pacific, 
too, 'Spain'b power was crushed. The Ladrone and Caroline Islands 
were seized by United States ships as a mere incident of the advance 
on the Philippines. The flag which Pewey raised at Manila is the,re to 
stay. If, indeed, Spanish treachery was at the bottom of the disa^iter 
to the "Maine," the reparation iias been full. 

The United States has gained territorj-, but, most of all, its navy 
has won world-wide prestige. The speed and stoutness of our ships, 
the rapidity and precision of our gunnery, the ■vigilance and skill of 
our commanders, have been the admiration of the naval world. Our 
own people love the navy as never before in our national history. 
The home-coming of Admiral Sampson's battle-scarred fleet Avas made 
the occasion of such an ovation in New York Harbor as no S(juadron 
ever before enjoyed. Upon that glorious roster of naval heroes which 
begins with Paul Jones and includes Decatur, Hull and Farragut, 
are now inscribed the names of Dewey, Sampson and Schley, and one 
more war period in American history is ended with the complete 
demonstration that for the United States sea power is the assurance 
of safety. 



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